Role Reversal
by Neo Z Fighters
Summary: The sadistic Arcosian tyrant, Frieza, wants Vegeta's son. But the resilient Saiyan king isn't going to let that happen. After concocting a plan to save the heir to the throne, he sends his son to Earth instead of a certain low-class Saiyan baby... Written by: FinalFlashX, Full Power, LucifVegeta, and pointer39
1. Divergence

**Chapter 1: Divergence**

**Written by: LucifVegeta, Full Power, pointer39, and FinalFlashX**

Darkness crept in the mighty king's throne room through the typically glistening windows plastered above the black throne. Not a single soldier lined the blue tiles that made a pathway to the greatest symbol of Saiyan strength on the planet. Not a single sound echoed across the darkened room. And not a soul breathed into the sacred ground... except King Vegeta. The great king, so sullen in his appearance and so angry underneath, sat firmly on his chair, his elbows buried into his thighs and his fists clenched atop them. His harsh, onyx eyes breathed fire into the ground as he slightly shook in his boots.

The king was always known for his propriety (in Saiyan terms, at least), and it was not often that he was without a legion of troops at his beck and call. But this was different. For he had just returned from a meeting with Frieza on the sadistic Arcosian's flagship, and despite his initial confidence and guise of strength, every ounce of poised assurance he previously had was shattered after the meeting had taken place.

And now, silently pondering his next course of action, was the very same king who once was so impudent, so brash, and so fearless. The words that Frieza left with him during their meeting rang through his head constantly, distracting him from thinking clearly.

_Ten more days, Vegeta._

The glorious king of the Saiyans squeezed his hands even harder, creating a small flow of blood that seeped through his gloved hands. It all happened so quickly. Nothing could have prepared him for it, for Frieza had never made any mention of it before. But that was all too common for the maniacal tyrant. His sadistic nature gave him increasingly disturbing amounts of pleasure from seeing people - whether it be his worst adversaries or his own foot soldiers - suffer. And King Vegeta was no fool; everything Frieza did was attributed to suffering... even the simplest things had horrible meanings behind them.

_Ten more days, Vegeta._

And in all honesty to Vegeta, he knew this day was coming. Well, he knew something of the sort would eventually happen. Saiyans were too powerful to keep as common soldiers, and Frieza had a tendency to fear what he couldn't control. But this... this was all too unexpected. So sudden did it happen, and so meager were Vegeta's hopes at keeping everything in reach. Something would have to change; but alas, Vegeta didn't know what.

_Ten more days, Vegeta_.

"ARGGHHH! DAMN YOU, FRIEZA!" Vegeta bellowed, following his outburst by slamming his bloodied fist into the arm-handle of his chair.

His black eyes stared intently into space as he allowed his lips to form a snarl. "I should have killed you back on your ship, you bastard!" ...

* * *

_Not too long ago on Frieza's flagship...  
_  
"My, what a _lovely_ little planet," Frieza muttered suavely as he admired the scenery from one of his several private quarters. The grey hoverchair faced the window and was the only thing in the room (aside from the dark red floor, walls, and ceiling) that could be considered "decor", which was especially surprising considering the fact that Frieza was always one for the lavish amenities in life.

The Arcosian slowly swished a metallic spoon around his glass of pure red wine. Just like his father, he believed the drink was a splendid addition to any afternoon of genocide and unadulterated terror. But that would come later. Now, he just wanted to enjoy some peace, quiet, and relaxation until his coveted "guest" would arrive...

The tyrant had originally approached King Vegeta to discuss "business matters", but the irony was that Frieza himself knew that Vegeta wouldn't be so foolish as to believe such a thing. He didn't even care, though. As far as satisfaction went, Frieza was obsessive with enjoyment, and enjoyment only came in several things for the shrill-voiced creature: torture, wine, and planetary genocide. In his mind, he would be able to commit planetary genocide in the future, and wine was available whenever he wanted it. But the opportunity to mentally destroy someone so arrogant like King Vegeta was an opportunity that didn't come up very often, and as soon as the idea hit Frieza, he called for the meeting immediately.

And luckily for him, as soon as he sipped a droplet of wine, the doors to his chamber swung open in a huff.

"Frieza! I have arrived!" barked the extraordinarily deep voice of King Vegeta. His white breastplate and red shoulder guards came with him as he entered the room with his chin held high. It wasn't a secret to anyone that he thought highly of himself; that was an attribute that Frieza intended to change.

Allowing a slight smirk to seep through his purple lips, Frieza turned around in his hoverchair. "Aren't you forgetting something, Vegeta?"

The haughty Saiyan king scowled at Frieza's condescending tone and narrowed his already darkened eyes. "I will never bow to you! This was supposed to be a business meeting - nothing more and nothing less!"

Frieza's smirk quickly stifled as he placed his glass of wine next to him, and then clasped his hands together and began drumming his fingertips periodically. "Even business partners can still treat each other with respect. Wouldn't you say, Vegeta?"

"I am the king of all Saiyans, Frieza! I do not heed to petty orders from the likes of yo-"

Before he could continue his pugnacious arguing, the king was flung to the ground with a slight flick of Frieza's thin wrist. "Oh, my! How very odd! I see you changed your opinions, Vegeta. How _thoughtful _of you!" the Arcosian stated with his usual smirk returned to his ivory face.

"Argh... urgh... Frie-Frieza... this is nonsense!" the king shouted from his unmovable kneeling position. "Let me up now, or I swear you will regret this!"

Frieza's smirk dwindled once again. "Will I? All I wanted was some courtesy, Vegeta. The king of all Saiyans should certainly know how to act respectfully to his... _superior_."

His smile quickly returned and Vegeta was allowed to stand. In a huff, Vegeta stroked his shoulder guard, almost as if he wished to remove any dust particles that landed there from his fall. Frieza was already getting on his nerve. Not only was the fiend disdainfully patronizing, he also was abusing his power exponentially. The king wasn't one for weakness, and he despised the Arcosian's attitude for a multitude of reasons, but the one that struck him the worst was the fact that Frieza believed him to be spineless and certainly not torpid. Still, if this meeting was going to be even a slightly relevant business agreement, the king thought it wise to listen to Frieza's proposition before striving to get his deferred revenge.

"Let us begin our meeting, Frieza. This is already a tremendous waste of my time, and you better make this assembly worth my trouble," the king commanded with a glare. "And next time you think about trying anything foolish, I would reconsider. It is not wise to anger me in such a manner!"

With a sly grin and a quick nod of his horned head, Frieza clasped his hands together. "Oh, I can assure you that this meeting will not be a waste of the mighty king's time, Vegeta."

"Carry on, then," Vegeta demanded with his unusually low voice as he folded his arms across his white-plated chest.

Frieza nodded, and his bright red eyes narrowed along with his furrowed brow. It was time. "Very well, then. May I ask you how your son is doing today?"

The upper lip of King Vegeta curled ever so slightly, and his already harsh glare intensified. "What do you care of my son, Frieza?"

"Well, I suppose I care quite a bit about your son. In fact, I think the little bugger is much more fit of the Saiyan crown than you, and because of this, I had a thought. Please, let me know if you're lost during this, Vegeta," the Arcosian sarcastically questioned.

And at this point in time, Vegeta was already stupefied with fear. Not the fear that makes you stay up at night and then goes away after you realize it is nothing, but the fear that rests in the pit of your stomach, the fear that really eats away your soul. Because Vegeta knew that Frieza was already making this personal. There were many things that he could do; there were many things that could tear apart the Saiyan royalty. And for Vegeta, everything Frieza did was in attempts to torture whom he called the "monkeys". This would be no different.

"May I continue?" Frieza queried, putting a halt to Vegeta's pondering. The Saiyan heatedly nodded, and Frieza began to speak again.

"You see, I like to tell my clients that I get my enjoyment from three things: torture, wine, and planetary genocide. And as you may know, I really do need some enjoyment today... so I had a thought about the mighty Saiyan prince... working under the most powerful force the universe has ever known. And let me tell you, I _loved _that thought. So, Vegeta, do you know what this means?"

Frieza was really enjoying himself now. His eyes glistened with pride and his grin had widened into barely-contained laughter. On the opposite side of the spectrum was Vegeta, who was speechless. Frieza wouldn't dare take his son; would he? What for? It didn't make any sense! The king immediately dropped onto one knee in pure shock, his eyes widened with incalculable amounts of fear. His jaw was slightly agape, and his hands were so clenched that small drips of bright red blood soaked through the ivory gloves and bounced off of the floor.

"Y-you wouldn't dare, Frieza... I... I will get the Saiyan army! I will KILL YOU!" He clamored, jolting his head upward to stare into the beady eyes of his ruthless adversary.

"Au contraire, Vegeta. You brought this upon yourself. If you weren't such a cheeky little monkey, maybe I would have allowed you to keep your son." The Arcosian stared in Vegeta's lost eyes and smirked even larger, allowing his own beady eyes to penetrate into Vegeta's very soul. "Actually, I am feeling a bit nice today. Blame it on Zarbon's soap operas if you wish, but the point remains that I want to be a loving, caring, genocidal tyrant. So, how about this: I will give you ten days until I come and take your son. Fair?"

The words didn't even register in the king's mind, for he was already devastated by the news. His second knee fell to the ground until he was basically begging at the feet of Frieza, and his face was empty of all emotions. His son would be taken from him. But... why? This was a question he had to know the answer to immediately.

He pursed his lips together and frowned at the nearly laughing tyrant in front of him. "Why?! How dare you do this, Frieza! This is a breach of every agreement we have ever made! You will not hold the Saiyan race as a mere bartering piece!"

"Because I know that you can't do a single thing about it. You can't stop me, Vegeta," Frieza quickly retorted with his trademark grin. "You can try, but I am much too powerful for such a weak little monkey. Such a pity, really, that it had to come to this, but there comes a point in time where arrogance can only get you so far."

And then, it really hit Vegeta. This wasn't anything more than torture of Vegeta's soul. Frieza was only doing this because Vegeta couldn't stop him. And it was his son that Frieza was taking away! Vegeta wasn't angry because he liked his son; on the contrary, actually. He was angry because his son was the only thing that could hope to stop Frieza in the future. Unknowingly, Frieza was destroying any hope that the Saiyans had at defeating the Planet Trade Organization. And Vegeta couldn't let that happen.

With a grunt, the Saiyan hopped up from his seated position and with his head high, he folded his bulging arms across his chest. "Frieza, you have made a vital mistake- one that I will not let you make. You may think you are all-powerful, but I, Vegeta, am the KING OF ALL SAIYANS!"

Immediately, the king burst out of his standing position and into the air, creating a stream of energy behind him as he charged at Frieza. The Arcosian hopped out of his hoverchair with brilliant speed, and before Vegeta could react, the Saiyan was sent crashing to the bright red ground. The powerful king grunted in pain several times as he ricocheted through the room, creating tiny potholes, before he finally stopped moving and crashed into the wall.

As Frieza mockingly chuckled, the king attempted to get up, but he fell back down once more, and slid down the wall until he was completely lying on the floor, bloodied and bruised from one simple attack. It was over before it began.

"Oh, look at you, Vegeta. You really attempted to fight me. Well, not really 'fight', more like 'flail angrily'."

The icy tyrant finished his stroll as he stepped right next to the injured and bloodied Vegeta. Despite the massive difference in size, Frieza had demonstrated one indisputable fact: he was much, much stronger than any Saiyan alive.

"Ten more days, Vegeta. Ten more days until you give your son to me." Frieza snapped his fingers and two PTO soldiers quickly entered the area, both dressed in the usual white armor and helmets. "Send the 'king' back to his home planet. Vegeta... just remember who REALLY rules over you monkeys."

* * *

Vegeta was desperate. Everything had been turned on its side by Frieza's out-of-the-blue plan, and he had to think of a way to get Vegeta safe from Frieza's harm. The king sat in his throne, pleading with his mind to think of an idea. And then... it hit him.

In a flare of newfound strength and willpower, the king burst out of his throne. He had an idea, and it would be one for the ages.

* * *

_'Oh, great, looks like I'm back here again,'_ Bardock thought, yawning as he walked down the corridor of the medical center. It was not by choice that he was here; no, he was almost being dragged by his friend and second-in-command: Tora. The medical center was becoming almost like a second home to him, seeing as how often he found himself here. It was all worth it, though, in the Saiyan's mind, because usually every time he found himself here, it was because his power was growing- typically at an exponential rate.

This, however, was not one of the times that Bardock could tolerate being in the hospital, and that was the reason for his reluctance to come along. For the past few months, whenever he hadn't been on missions, there was one other reason why his presence here was sometimes required. Bardock, of course, avoided the place like the plague when _this _was the reason for him being in the medical center. Of course, Tora or Fasha occasionally managed to drag their leader there for the occasional check-up, and Bardock hated every minute of it. It was a waste of time that could be spent either training or going on missions that would increase their power. He didn't have time for these frivolous pursuits.

"What are we going so fast for, Tora? It's not like the planet is going to blow up anytime soon," muttered Bardock as the other Saiyan changed pace from a speed walk to a light jog. Bardock had intended for his joke to go unheard, but Tora's enhanced Saiyan hearing picked up on it immediately.

"We're going to see your son, Bardock. How many times do I have to tell you? He was just born a few hours ago, and I thought you might want to see him before we left for Kanassa," said Tora, with a little bit of irritation in his voice. The armband-wearing Saiyan wasn't angry at his friend; rather, he just wanted for Bardock to see his new son sooner rather than later.

"Why, though? Seems like a waste of time to me," commented Bardock with a bored expression of his face. He was much more interested in the assignment that he had chosen for his squad to go on next than this new son of his.

"With all due respect, Bardock, I don't want your newborn to end up like Raditz. You're one of the most powerful Saiyans around- even compared to the Elites! Wouldn't you want to be able to make your son as strong as you?" Tora asked.

"Don't get me started on Raditz," Bardock said, annoyed.

"Because you know that I'm right! Look, Bardock, all I'm saying is that it's only right for you to at least _try_ to have a relationship with your son. Imagine how powerful he could become training under you!" Tora exclaimed.

Bardock simply grunted, not willing to continue the argument with his friend any longer. The sooner that he conceded to Tora's wishes and at least saw the brat, the sooner they could get back to business. The pair continued to walk down the corridor in silence until they saw a short, bird-like creature scurrying down the hallway. The alien being was the doctor named Malaka, who happened to be the one that Bardock found to be the most tolerable. He was a very timid man, which meant that he often simply did what the scar-faced Saiyan told him without question since he feared what might happen to him if he didn't. It was a beautiful relationship in Bardock's mind.

"Morning, Doc," addressed Tora, raising an arm to wave down the jumpy alien. "If I remember correctly, you oversee all new Saiyan births. So you should know where we can find Bardock's son?"

"You mean Raditz, right?" Malaka questioned, and Tora shook his head while Bardock simply snorted at the doctor's ignorance. The bird-like man became wide-eyed for a second, but didn't make a sound as sweat began to stream down his face. Bardock cocked an eyebrow as he observed Malaka's strange behavior. The alien was clearly hiding something, and the scar-faced Saiyan wasn't particularly fond of being kept in the dark.

"Hey, my comrade asked you a question! Where is Kakarot and why aren't you taking care of him!?" Bardock yelled as he grabbed the short creature by the collar and slammed him onto the wall. Malaka let out a yelp of terror while Tora quickly jumped to his friend's side and grasped one of his arms. This situation was quickly becoming out of hand and needed defusing fast before the wild-haired Saiyan did something he might regret.

"Malaka, I think what Bardock is trying to ask is where can he find his new son. He's a little concerned, that's all," Tora said calmly, but the sweat continued to travel on Malaka's face as he stared into the anger-filled face of Bardock.

Realizing that if he didn't answer the Saiyans' questions, he would most likely end up as a pile of ash, Malaka finally nodded before saying, "Young Kakarot was born in perfect health. However, I was informed to leave the child alone on direct order from King Vegeta. If I go against that, it will be my certain death!"

"Damn it, Vegeta! That fool has been jealous of my power for some time now; of course he would pull something like this to insult me!" Bardock yelled as he released his hold on the doctor, which caused Malaka to crumple to the floor gasping for air. The Saiyan clenched his fists tightly, so tightly that blood started to drip onto the clear floor below. He wouldn't allow that arrogant prick to get away with this!

"What else has Vegeta said about Kakarot?" Tora asked, feeling just as angry as Bardock was at the moment.

"K-King Vegeta has sentenced Kakarot to death! I was told that young Kakarot is to be killed later today because his power level is so low!" Malaka stuttered, afraid that Bardock would separate his head from the rest of his body.

"WHAT? Wait, what's... how low is his power level?!" Bardock questioned, feeling the urge to rip someone's head off of their body.

"Two."

A groan escaped from Bardock as he heard his son's pitiful power level. It was like Raditz all over again! With a power level that low, the scar-faced Saiyan honestly didn't care to ever really see this son of his. However, this clearly wasn't about his son at all. No, this was simply a scare tactic by the king in order to try and get him to stand down. To stop showing up all of the Elites and the king himself with his incredible power! Well, it wasn't going to work, and for his pride's sake, Bardock was going to make sure nothing happened to Kakarot.

"Where is Kakarot right now?" asked Tora with a hint of desperation in his voice.

"Room 217," barked out Malaka before covering his head as the Saiyan duo rushed past him and left him in their dust. It didn't take long for the two to reach the room which held Bardock's son. Not waiting for the door to open on its own, Bardock kicked down the door to reveal two Saiyan Elites hovering over a small, raised up bed.

"Get the hell away from there!" shouted Bardock before pouncing on the two Saiyans who had been sent to apprehend the baby Kakarot. The Elites didn't have a chance, for before they could even react, Bardock had already knocked them out with lightning fast punches that connected with their jaws. The room was filled with the sound of medical equipment falling to the ground as the limp forms of the Royal Saiyan Guards lay sprawled across the counters of the room.

"Hey Bardock, it's all right; the kid's fine." Looking over to Tora after the former finished speaking, Bardock caught his first glimpse of his newest born child. His best friend held the naked baby in his arms, and the scar-faced Saiyan was stunned by the resemblance the boy held to himself. It was like staring into a mirror, the only difference between their appearances being the lack of scars across Kakarot's face.

"Let me see him, Tora," said Bardock, a little lost for words. The mullet-haired Saiyan quietly handed the boy over to his father and the hardened Saiyan warrior was speechless for a few moments as he stared into his child's face. The boy's looks almost made up for the fact that he was so weak. Almost.

A sneer now appeared across Bardock's face as he looked away from the boy and then up to Tora again. "I'm going to have to take the brat away from here; it's not safe here anymore. Besides, I need to leave him with someone while I go settle things with Vegeta. That prick's gone too far this time!"

"Bardock, you can't be serious!" exclaimed Tora. "Beating up a few Elites is one thing, but open rebellion against the king is just asking for a death sentence! Besides, we have a mission to leave for in a little over an hour! What about the others? We can't just leave them in the dark about this."

"You're right. That's why you're going to tell them about what's going on when you lead them on the Kanassa assignment," replied Bardock with a slight grin on his face. "I know you've always wanted the chance to lead a mission without me. It should be fun."

"You can't be serious!" shouted Tora. "Not only do you want to go up against the king himself, but you want to do it without our help! That's insane, Bardock!"

Bardock chuckled slightly as he began to walk towards the door, child in hand. "Maybe so, but this is my fight, not yours. I don't want any of you getting in trouble because of anything that I might be forced to do to resolve this little issue with the king. Besides, it's my pride that bastard has insulted. It is my duty as a Saiyan to regain it- alone."

Tora let out a sigh before walking over to join his friend. Putting a hand on Bardock's bare shoulder, the other Saiyan said, "All right, Bardock, I understand. But you have to promise me that you'll at least _try _and settle this through the proper channels first. Maybe this is just an order mix-up or something, and I don't want you to go and storm the castle when this all could be just a simple misunderstanding."

"Fine," conceded Bardock, allowing some of his rage to dissipate somewhat. "I'll try it your way first, but just know that I can't stand any of that bureaucratic bullshit. It's very likely that this will turn ugly."

"Funny how your face lit up when you said that," teased Tora before walking past his friend with a wave of his hand. "Who knows, maybe you'll finally get that fight with Vegeta that you've always wanted, and when we get back you'll be the King of Saiyans!"

Bardock let out a rumbling laugh as he too walked out of the maternity ward room. "Now wouldn't that be something! Maybe your birth wouldn't be a complete waste of time then, huh, Kakarot?"

* * *

Tora awoke to the familiar sound of gas being released throughout his pod- gas with the reverse effect of the gas that put him asleep in the first place. He coughed vigorously before it started to clear. Regaining his composure, he sat up from his slouched state and creaked his neck to the side. Hours of gas-induced sleep didn't do wonders to a Saiyan's neck, and Tora squirmed with displeasure as he straightened up his bones.

"I swear that stuff is slowly killing us," He muttered to himself.

A voice chuckled through the scouter. "You're probably right about that," Shugesh laughed.

A yawn could be heard from Borgos, and Fasha finally made her presence known. "How many minutes until we land?" The lone female member of the squad asked.

She was easily the most casual and playful member of the squad. She wore little armor and protection with a skin tight, pink, spandex undershirt, along with a pair of rectangular earrings. Goes to show that looks are deceptive, and with a power level rivaling the rest of her comrades, she was as deadly as the average elite.

"Estimated arrival: thirty minutes."

"So, uhh… do you guys think we can handle this without Bardock? The elites didn't even want to take this job," Shugesh asked nervously.

"We'll be fine as long as they were right about the full moon," Fasha brushed off with a glare out the window of her pod.

"There's nothing to worry about. They have _no idea_ that four Saiyans are about to transform in their midst," Tora said with a confident smirk, but mostly it was something else: Excitement.

Tora was excited that he would get to lead his comrades into combat for once, and he was also excited about the idea of returning to Bardock to inform him that the purge was successful; he wanted to tell him that his squad was so good that they could take a planet like Kanassa despite elite teams refusing to do so. Bardock's _low level_ squad was going to take out one of the most dangerous planets in the job pool without their leader. _But hey, we're just monkeys, right?_

*_Twenty-seven minutes later*_

_Great balls of fire!_ Four flaming Planet Trade Organization pods collided into the soft soil of Kanassa. The brown dirt flew upward because of the heavy impact of each ship, and several large craters immediately formed, dotting the planet's surface with holes. Slowly, each pod opened up slightly, and the Saiyan warriors all hopped out simultaneously.

The armored group of invaders walked up to the surface and enjoyed a nice stretch together. It was sorely needed because of the long flights, and as they all demonstrated by cracking their bones, it was a large relief.

"Man, I hate being cooped up in that damn pod," Borgos complained.

Borgos was a darker skinned, which was rare for Saiyans. For whatever genetic reason, most Saiyans were lighter in color. He had three claw-like scars on his head and wore the black and blue armor, which was actually quite fitting for the bulky brute. He happened to have an eating disorder. He was not much unlike like the usual Saiyan who could pack a lot into his seemingly bottomless pit of a stomach. For some reason, Borgos would never want to stop. He ate before missions, in the pod before arrival, _right before_ the purge officially started, and that made him so distracted that he grew up to be a strong and silent type.

"Well, let's try and enjoy ourselves before we have to get back in," Shugesh encouraged with eagerness.

Shugesh was definitely not your ideal weight; he was around three-hundred pounds with a (not very) stylish bowl-cut hairdo and a General Nappa-esque moustache. His black armor and turquoise shoulder straps were the same color of the stripes across his stomach. However, for a_ low class_, he was a _very_ strong warrior with an exceptional power level. Of course, _that_ power level wouldn't come to play on this planet. With any luck, the Saiyans would be able to transform before being seen by the locals.

"We've still got an hour to burn before the full moon comes," Tora reminded.

Tora was Bardock's second in command, the both serious and friendly warrior that could always be trusted. His light blue-gray armor with a black base was so shiny that it could accidentally flicker and alert the enemy of his presence. He had the largest power in the group, other than Bardock, of course.

"So… we're just gonna sit here?"

"No, of course not," Tora answered, brushing his spiky hair with a quick wave of his hand.

"We'll get outside the city walls. That way, we'll be right where we need to be when we transform; just be sure to keep out of sight from patrols. The scouting report warned that they always keep an eye out for an inevitable invasion."

They nodded and flared their unique auras, ready to take to the skies. "Wait!" Tora called out. They stopped in their tracks. "Let's go on foot; we can use the trees for cover if we spot anyone."

This, of course, produced a negative response from his comrades. Going on foot meant it would take longer and increase caution. Patience and cautiousness were not common virtues amongst Saiyans, especially not these Saiyans, who were used to getting missions that involved quick strikes with full on brawling. Stealth just wasn't in the typical Saiyan mindset.

Tora's order received a collective groan, but he was making the right decision. If they were caught by any Kanassans - especially without Bardock - before one hour could pass, they would surely get slaughtered.

Borgos pulled out a large piece of bloodied, raw meat and shoved it down in two bites. Fasha's usually beautiful face wrinkled as she snorted with pure disgust. "Can't you hold it for five minutes!?"

"What!?" He snapped with a snarl, and a mouth full of food.

"You're worse than Bardock's family, and that's fucking saying a lot." The other three Saiyans took a moment to laugh before continuing on, keeping their eyes out for Kanassan patrols.

*_1 hour later and outside Kanassan civilization*_

The full moon, producer of light in the absence of the sun, glowing in the starry night sky, appeared for the first time in weeks. Beautiful and romantic, right?

_"ROAR!_" Shugesh howled.

_Wrong._

Four hulking figures seemed to appear out nowhere at all. Each hairy and maniacal Oozaru roared with pleasure, and they all peered over the city walls that once seemed so high. Now, each concrete wall was as easy to destroy as paper for the mighty Saiyans.

Several Kanassan warriors were prepared to hold them as far back as possible. The teal-skinned warriors howled their battle cries into the wind as they charged at the monstrous apes. Their plan was futile, however, as Fasha kicked them all through the walls with ease, forcing a majority to collapse down on several of the warriors.

Several feet away, Borgos fired a pink wave out of his mouth, consuming several enemies and turning three whole blocks full of buildings into ruins. The wisps of the energy assault still danced around the dead warriors while several flames were created on top of the ruined buildings.

Now, the Kanassans were not caught by surprise by the attack; they saw it coming a mile away. Unfortunately for them, their visions never revealed the location of the invaders _before_ the attack; maybe they could've prevented the slaughter, but it would have been extraordinarily difficult.

Even as they combated the enemy, a vision here and there would appear showing the deaths of their comrades and themselves. They _knew _they couldn't actually win.

A rather unfortunate group of Kanassan soldiers' eyes widened in utter fear as Tora leaped into the air. They desperately tried to fly out of the way before it was too late, but the Great Ape was just _too_ massive to possibly avoid.

His feet promptly crushed the terrified stragglers, creating a large crater and piling their bodily mush all over the ground.

One of the stronger Kanassans, a militant leader, tried standing up to Shugesh all by himself. He fired his favorite technique: a powerful focus beam.

The beam tore through Shugesh's fur on the side of his face, and was actually strong enough to make the Ape bleed. All things taken into account, it didn't have any overall effect on him, though. This merely angered Shugesh, evident by the threatening growl that was heard, and he lunged forth at a blazing speed, and then he simply squashed his foe by turning him into Kanassan goo.

The slaughter would continue to ensue much like this for the rest of the night, until there was _nothing_ left to kill. Or so they thought…

_*The next morning: 6 hours later*_

The Saiyans all sat in a circle, resting after a long night in their transformed states. Not being able to remember anything from an entire night combined with nearly no sleep took a toll on the group of warriors.

"Do you guys ever remember anything _after_ you wake back up?" Shugesh asked out of curiosity, his right eyebrow curved upward.

"Usually I remember some, but it's also a blur, like waking up from a dream," Borgos answered calmly. He picked up a dead green Kanassan's leg, apparently entertaining the idea of eating his own victims.

"Well, I sure remember the crusty little devil who gave me _this,_" Shugesh grunted, clearly annoyed by his scarred left cheek.

"I don't know how you guys can remember _anything_; all I ever get is a headache," Fasha inputted.

This received a collective chuckle from the others. "You know," she went on. "Bardock once told me he remembers _everything._"

Tora laughed at that and leaned back to relax even further. "Please, he may remember every moment of battle, but his social life is almost completely lost."

"He's got two sons now," Fasha retorted with a huff.

"Yeah, and does he even really _know_ Raditz? At all?" Tora chuckled.

Borgos also chuckled. "He's got a point," He agreed, before finally taking a bite of Kanassan leg that he had been holding throughout the conversation, hoping to sate his hunger.

Suddenly, a warrior burst out of the rubble behind them. He grinned deviously with flexed muscles and was immediately in a fighting stance. The Saiyans hurriedly jumped to their feet. "Survivor!" Tora shouted out of surprise, even if it was obvious.

"Brilliant observation," Fasha mocked with her lips slightly curved.

Tora ignored his ally, clenched his fists and kept his narrowed eyes locked on the dangerous foe.

"You _killed _them! You killed them all!" the Kanassan screeched.

Shugesh made a quick move and got a kick on the ranting soldier while his guard was down, sending him skidding back into the rubble in which he came from. Tora followed up with a blue energy ball, which quickly enveloped him and set off a large flash of energy. After the blinding flare dissipated, it seemed clear that the attack had easily killed the injured Kanassan.

Not all was as it had seemed, however, as the Kanassan soldier stood back upright. He was glowing blue, and if it were a different color, he could actually resemble a man being set on fire.

"What!? Impossible!"

"I have transformed your destructive powers into a more tolerable energy," The Kanassan briefly explained.

The Saiyans weren't sure what to make of this.

"The one you call Frieza sent you here seeking psychic powers, but he shall never get them," He went on.

_What would Bardock do right about now?_ Tora wondered, but that wasn't a very difficult thing to figure out.

Tora suddenly charged at the alien without warning. "Die!" He shouted, accompanied with a fierce battle cry.

He made an attempt to hit the enemy across the chin, but the Kanassan - despite his injuries - was simply too quick. He anticipated the move as if he had _seen it coming _and easily sidestepped his fist. A slight smirk could be seen if one was concentrating enough...

Before Tora could rotate back around, the Kanassan swung a chop to the back of his neck, right on the top of his spinal cord.

Rather than scream in pain, Tora couldn't make a sound, and he fell to the ground with a thud. He immediately curled into a fetal position, unintentionally, of course.

"HAHAHAHA! Frieza will _never _get what he sought for, but I have given it to you; _you_ now have the power, _Tora_!"

Everyone was caught by surprise yet again as he said Tora's name. "What?!" Tora queried with shock.

"I have given it to you… as a gift. That way, you will be able to _see_ your end like my men and I were forced to see ours!" He cackled.

"I think I've heard enough," Tora spat. "See you in hell!" He stated calmly, raising his arm and blasting him away with a sparkling blue energy wave. Immediately, and behind a slight shriek, the body of the Kanassan slowly vaporized within the blast. Nothing was left of him.

"That sure was something; I have no idea what that guy was talking' about, do you?" Shugesh wondered aloud.

Tora's world went black as his eyes voluntarily shut and dropped to the ground. "Tora!" The rest of the squad rushed over to check him out. Something was wrong with their leader, and they didn't know what...

* * *

An impatient growl escaped from Bardock's lips as he stared at the three guards that barred his entrance into the royal palace. It had been four days since the rest of his crew had left for Planet Kanassa for their mission, and the leader of their squad couldn't help but wish that he was there with them. He was sure that they were having the times of their lives right about now as they wrapped up the demolition of that future-seeing race of weaklings.

But no, he was stuck here dealing with bureaucratic bullshit while he tried to get to the bottom of why his son was suddenly on death row. Sure, the kid was a weakling, but there were loads of weak third-class Saiyan babies, and while it ashamed Bardock to admit it, it was only _his _son that was being singled out to die. This wasn't about the brat; that much was certain. No, this was about King Vegeta being afraid of him and his growing power. The arrogant elitist was simply afraid of his rising power level and since he was too much of a coward to fight him face to face, he was going to try and hurt him through his son.

Well, the scar-faced Saiyan wasn't going to give that royal bastard the satisfaction. After hearing the news, he had taken Kakarot and hidden him inside of the low-class burrows of the city. The Elites were to prideful to even set foot inside of the "scum's land", as they called it, so the brat would be relatively secure there. Besides, no one dared to cross Bardock when he asked them to do something for him. They all knew that he could crush any low-class Saiyan alive since he was rumored to be a match for even the King himself. This, of course… was the heart of the problem at the moment.

"I'm sorry, _Bardock," _spat one of the guards as he stared at the third-class Saiyan with disdain. "We can't allow your kind to enter into the Royal Palace without direct orders from the king himself. Since we both know that that's never going to happen, why don't you just crawl back to that dung-hole that you call home?"

Those words caused the other two guards to erupt into a hearty fit of laughter as the "Elites" shared laugh at the low-class Saiyan's expense. This, of course, did not settle well with Bardock.

"So, you're not going to let me in, huh?" asked the wild-haired Saiyan in a dangerously low voice. "Well, I guess that means that I'm going to have to force my way in so that I can have audience with the King!"

The trio's laughter only intensified after the man's words and the lead guard managed to say through fits of chuckles, "Really? YOU are going to break into the Royal Palace by defeating us! Three Elites against a third-class loser like you! I think we'll take our chances."

After hearing the other Saiyan's words, Bardock's mouth formed a devilish smile as adrenaline began to flow through his veins. It seemed that he was going to have some fun today after all!

"All right, but I'll let you know now that your chances aren't very good. But that doesn't really matter, because you insulted my strength… and NO ONE gets away with that!"

The fight was over before the three guardsmen even knew what was happening. After finishing his tirade, Bardock had phased out of sight and had delivered a devastating uppercut that sent the lead Saiyan flying into the air until his body collided with one of the towers of the palace. As rumble cascaded around them, the low-class Saiyan had dispatched of the other two "Elites" with a roundhouse kick to one of their temples and then finished the last one off with a swift chop to the neck. The two moves seemed to be simultaneous from the perception of the two guards and while one was sent flying over the skyline of the city from Bardock's kick, the other crumpled to the floor after having his neck broken from the simple arm movement.

"What weaklings," commented Bardock with disgust before raising his head and pointing it at the gate. "How did these morons ever become Elites? Even Borgos is stronger those three. Oh well, that's what happens, I guess, when they sit around being entitled little pricks all day long."

An orb of blue energy sprung to life in Bardock's palm as he prepared to blast open the gate to the palace. However, he restrained from doing so when his scouter suddenly sprung to life and alerted him of a high power level suddenly heading his way.

"So, the king's finally coming out to play is he?" Bardock asked aloud as he allowed the ki in his hand to dissipate harmlessly into the air. "This should be interesting if nothing else."

Satisfied that the "King of All Saiyans" was being forced to come outside of his palace to see a simple "low-class simpleton", Bardock casually sat down atop a particularly large chunk of castle as he waited. The man whistled while he waited; he was in a much better mood now that he had finally achieved gaining the king's attention. Maybe this would be the chance that he finally got to fight that elitist and prove to all Saiyans that it didn't matter what class you were born into, and that it was the strength that you earned through hard-work that really mattered.

"I appreciate you not blowing up my door." Bardock casually turned his head to look up into the red sky above to set eyes on the form of King Vegeta hovering above him. "It would have been a major headache to find the time to replace it if you had."

"Glad to serve, Your _Majesty_," said Bardock with a mock bow after leaping to his feet. "Now that you're here, though- where the hell do you get the idea of sentencing my son to death!? I know that you're afraid of me, a mere low-class Saiyan, surpassing your strength, but you don't have to be a complete coward and go after my infant son because of it! If you have a problem with me, than come at me and we can settle this like real Saiyans!"

Bardock smiled when he saw the king float motionless for a few moments, which he could only assume was because he was so petrified by the thought of having to fight him. To the wild-haired Saiyan's surprise, though, King Vegeta suddenly let out a low rumbling bark of laughter before addressing the low-class Saiyan.

"So that's what all this fuss is about? I assure you, that order has NOTHING to do with you. What business would I ever have with someone of your incredibly low stature? You're not the brightest man if you really thought that I ever cared about you at all. No, this is a completely different matter entirely. Oh, and that bit about us fighting- what's the point when the outcome will most certainly lead to your death?"

"Oh, so that's how you think that's how it will end, huh!?" bellowed Bardock as his body began to tremble with rage. "How about we find out right now then!?"

After shouting his last word, Bardock pushed off the surface of the piece of debris he had been standing on. The force of his take-off was so great that the rock crumbled into a thousand different pieces as the low-class Saiyan unleashed a ferocious battle cry. Bardock's eyes widened as he brought back his fist, finally ready to prove all of the so called elites of their race wrong.

The Saiyan's chance never came though, for as he flew through the air, he felt himself come crashing to the ground as nearly a dozen members of the Royal Guard had suddenly pounced into him. This sudden ambush caught Bardock completely by surprise and he cried out in frustration as the dozen guards forced him to crash into the ground: hard.

No matter how much he struggled, Bardock found that he couldn't wrestle free from the mass of limbs that had him pinned to the ground. Another roar of anger escaped from his mouth as he attempted to flare his aura to force the Royal Guard off of him. He felt a slight relief in pressure, but as soon as he began to attempt to pick himself back up, he was suddenly slammed to the ground again. It was useless, even if he was stronger than all these idiots individually; their combined strength was too much for even Bardock to overcome.

"While I'm not really interested in you," came the baritone voice of the King from above Bardock's head. The low-class warrior tried to lift his head to look at the speaker, but couldn't raise it thanks to the trio of forearms buried into his neck. "I am interested in your son. His death was ordered for a reason, and it is vitally important that his sentence is carried out before he is scheduled to be sent... away... in six days. So until you reveal where you've hidden the boy, you're going to become quite familiar with my dungeon. Take him away, men. I don't want to see this impudent scum's face again."

Bardock snarled as he was forcibly lifted up off of the ground and dragged backwards. Even as his legs were being scraped across the harsh ground, and even though he could feel the blood beginning to pour from them, Bardock's mind was only focused on one thing: the form of the King of the Saiyans walking away from him with his back turned. The sight caused a sneer to form across the other Saiyan's face and as he was dragged away, only one word could be heard throughout the palace.

"VEGETA!"

* * *

"Prince Vegeta, you have been summoned to the Launch Station."

An irritated snort echoed throughout the giant room as a young boy with black, flame-like hair turned his head towards the door. Already, a scowl of disgust had formed across his face directed towards the fool who dared intrude upon his privacy. He had made it very clear to all of his servants that he was not to be disturbed while in his own, personal, training faculty.

"Haven't I told you never to come in here, Nappa?!" shouted the enraged child with a stamp of his foot as he attempted to bore holes into his personal bodyguard. The former General of the Saiyan Army was a true behemoth. He towered over eight feet into the air and his muscular frame was nearly as wide. The only part of his body there wasn't excess of was his hair, seeing as how he only had a small patch atop his giant head and then a thin goatee outlining his big mouth. The Saiyan Prince truly couldn't stand the sight of him and his scowl simply deepened as he thought about how much he hated Nappa's hair. "Now leave before I decide to punish you for this insolence!"

"But, sire, this is a direct order from your father, King Vegeta!" clarified the brute as he began to take a step inside of the Prince's training grounds. A fierce stare from the young Saiyan was enough to deter him from doing so, and Nappa quickly retracted his offending limb.

Satisfied with his subordinate's actions, Vegeta sighed as he walked over to his discarded royal armor and cape. "Fine, I will go to the Launch Station to meet with my father," conceded the adolescent as he hovered over his suit of armor before turning his head towards Nappa once again. "Well, what are you waiting for, you bumbling buffoon! Can't you see that if I am to meet my father, I will have to look presentable?"

"Oh, yes, of course, sire!" exclaimed Nappa as he rushed to assist the boy slip into his outfit. Vegeta remained motionless as his custom-made breastplate with the royal insignia slid over his head and firmly onto his body. With a flourish of his scarlet cape, the heir to the Saiyan throne swiftly exited the training grounds with his giant companion trailing in his wake.

The pair walked through the palace corridors in silence, with the mammoth-sized bodyguard walking nearly a yard behind his charge. The tiny prince always hated it when they walked side-by-side since he barely reached the top of Nappa's kneecap (not counting his pointy hair). Vegeta was happy to see that the imbecile was actually listening to him for a change. It was far too difficult to penetrate that thick skull of his.

After several minutes of striding through his family's halls, Vegeta finally reached his destination and emerged onto a terrace that overlooked the sprawling metropolis below. Countless skyscrapers consumed the land below him and millions of lights illuminated the streets and buildings below. It was truly an impressive sight to see exactly how far the Saiyans had come in such a short amount of time. He had been told that not a century ago, the Saiyan Race had been comprised of cave-dwellers. Astounding how far his people had come under his family's leadership. Vegeta could only imagine how much further they would advance under his rule.

Even though the city was impressive to be sure, that wasn't even really where the young Prince's thoughts were turned to. No, it was really the stars that the pointy-haired adolescent was obsessed with. Looking up at the bright red sky above, Vegeta squinted as he attempted to see the stars hiding behind the veil of Planet Vegeta's atmosphere. It was a Saiyan warrior's duty to go into space and conquer weaker races for the greater good of the Empire. At the moment, the Saiyans were employed by the planet broker, Frieza, and it was their job to acquire suitable planets for the Arcosian to sell on the galactic market. While Vegeta hated the fact that his people had been reduced to nothing but high-scale mercenaries, he did realize that it was an inescapable truth at the moment. It provided revenue for the Saiyans and also gave them what they craved most of all: a chance to test their strength in combat throughout the universe.

The boy's tiny fists clenched in anger as this thought passed through his head. It was true that every Saiyan, even the lowest born among them, were being given the opportunity to challenge themselves against worthy opponents in space. There was one exception, though: the Prince of All Saiyans. Not even once had he been given the opportunity to prove himself - no, to prove his strength - in combat. He had only been off of Planet Vegeta once, and that was to observe his father and the other Elites wipe out some pitiful species. Even then, though, he had been constantly surrounded by the others and not allowed to participate in the purge. He was simply there to observe as his father had told him at the time.

His father: the man that was behind this egregious affront to his pride! It was him that had constantly blocked every attempt the Prince had made to be given an assignment. It was him that had prevented Vegeta from proving how strong he really was to the rest of their people.

"_There is no need for you to prove your power, my son. You are already revered as the strongest Saiyan to ever be born at your age! The others are all in pursuit of you. It is for them to prove themselves to you, not the other way around."_

The King's words pierced his son's pride like daggers. How would he ever know how powerful he really was if he could never challenge anyone? How was he supposed to be prepared for the next threat to his people if he could never gauge his strength against other strong opponents? How could he ever hope to be the leader of a warrior race if he could never show his subjects his might?

That's why this unexpected summoning gave the boy a slight jolt of hope. Was it possible that his father had seen how foolish he had been before by denying him his birthright as a Saiyan? The tiny warrior's blood boiled for the thrill of combat and Vegeta's skin seemed to be on fire from just the mere thought that it was a possibility. Finally, the opportunity he was craving seemed to be within his grasp.

Vegeta blasted off into the crimson sky, unable to wait any longer to see if his hopes were founded. He flew at full speed, and his flight was accompanied by a series of sonic booms as his small frame broke the sound barrier several times over. After each explosion of sound, though, a twin eruption followed almost like an echo to the ones created by the Prince. Turning his head slightly, the boy saw that his personal guard dog was right behind him once again. Ignoring the giant, Vegeta just kept his eyes forward as he rocketed towards the colossal building that was covered by the horizon before him.

It was this massive faculty that the Prince landed at a minute later as he touched down at the entrance to the Launch Station. Planet Vegeta only had one terminal space port. Because of this, the building that facilitated all of that traffic was truly gigantic. It easily dwarfed every other building on the entire planet, and it was this compound that the flame-haired adolescent found himself entering into.

Surprisingly, the usual hub of those bustling terminals was eerily quiet, and Vegeta couldn't help it as the hair on his tail stood up somewhat. The station was completely deserted, which he guessed wasn't completely unusual when it was being used by the Royal Family. Last time he had been here, the Launch Station had been cleared out before his arrival as well, and only those that were going on a mission were allowed access.

This time, though, there wasn't even a large contingent of Royal Elites or any sizable grouping of Saiyans at all. No, the only life that Vegeta saw were two stoic Saiyans that appeared to be members of his father's personal guard. That was it. It seemed the statue-like duo had been expecting him, though, because as soon as he entered into the station, they swiftly converged upon him.

"Your Highness," they both said with a bow. The prince eyed the pair before releasing a grunt to acknowledge them. After being released from their bow, the two stood and the one on the right said, "we have been ordered to take you to your father, Prince Vegeta. Please, follow us."

"Hn," snorted Vegeta before gesturing with his hand for the pair of morons to lead the way. The two quickly pivoted on their heels before swiftly moving down the massive corridor. Briskly walking after them, Prince Vegeta followed them with his brutish bodyguard following behind him. The stroll was fairly boring to the child, especially since there was nothing else to observe to take his mind off of this extremely dull affair. All excitement that he had built up on the possibility of being given assignment had seemingly sizzled out upon entering this barren, depressing building.

During this otherwise tedious walk, one thing did occur that stunned the small prince. Instead of turning down the corridor that would lead to the launching pads used exclusively by the Saiyan Elite, his guides had taken him down the corridor that was supposedly only used for the third-class warriors.

"What is this?" questioned Vegeta after noticing this major oversight by his guides. Idiots didn't even know where they were supposed to lead him to! "Why are we going the wrong way?"

"I assure you, My Lord," replied one of his guides immediately. "This is the right way. The king will be waiting for us at the end of this corridor."

With a disgruntled huff, Vegeta clamped his mouth shut and simply walked behind the two guards as they continued to lead him through the seemingly endless pathways of the Launch Station. It was nearly ten minutes later when they finally stopped in front of the entrance to one of the numerous launch pads for the low-class Saiyans.

"The king is waiting inside for you, My Prince," informed one of the guides as he gestured for the boy to enter through the grungy doorway. With a sneer of disgust, Vegeta walked through the entrance and as his cape billowed behind him, he felt the door suddenly slide shut. He thought it was strange that not even Nappa was allowed to come inside with him, but he didn't really pay too much mind to it. Clearly, his father wished to speak with him in private.

"Ah, my son, I see you have finally made it here." Vegeta turned his head to look upon the speaker of the deep voice that had suddenly echoed throughout the large hangar. Standing several dozen feet away was his father, standing tall and proud beside a lone space pod. The broad-shouldered man possessed the same hairstyle as his son; only instead of his hair being the color of onyx like the Prince's, his was a deep brown color. A hint of a smile traced the King's lips underneath his full-grown goatee as Vegeta began walking towards his father.

"You summoned me, Father," said the boy as he came to a stop before the older version of himself.

"Yes, that is correct," confirmed the king before turning his back on his son to look out of the opening in the ceiling above to stare out into the sky above. "I have decided to finally grant your request for a mission. You will be leaving immediately."

"Finally! It's about time, old man!" exclaimed Vegeta, the volume of his voice giving away his joyous feelings about finally being given an assignment. "Though why are we in such a disgusting place as the third-class launch deck? The smell here is dreadful."

Silence hung over the father-son duo for a few seconds before the older Saiyan finally responded. "The mission that you are being sent on is one of the utmost importance and secrecy. No one can know that you have left on your assignment, so using the Elite decks would be far too dangerous. Therefore, you will be leaving from here. Now, not even the cleverest analyst will ever be able to figure out that it is you being sent."

The boy cocked an eyebrow at his father's words. "What is the cause for all of this secrecy? What kind of mission exactly am I being sent on?"

Vegeta was surprised when he saw his father sigh before turning back to face him. The King's face had hardened into a seemingly impenetrable mask that would never allow any emotions to reveal themselves to those that observed him. It was a cold, callous expression his father wore to face him, which only caused the boy's suspicions to rise even higher.

"Your mission is a long-term assignment," informed the elder Saiyan, his voice betraying no emotion at all. "There is only one objective to it as well: to train hard so that one day you will be able to defeat Frieza. You are not to return here until you have completed that mission."

The Prince was stunned into silence by his father's sudden revelation. It took a few moments for the adolescent to fully process exactly what his father had told him. Frieza? How did he factor into this and why did he have to travel to a distant planet to train to defeat that lizard? He was already planning on doing that, but here, on his homeworld. Not on some foreign mud-ball planet! And was he being banished? Why was he being sent away? All of these questions swirled around in the boy's mind simultaneously as he tried to understand what was going on.

"Explain yourself!" demanded Vegeta, unable to say anything other than the two simple words. He couldn't muster the strength to ask anything more specific.

"The Arcosian has ordered me to hand you over to him," said King Vegeta, his expression never changing as he spoke. "I refuse to allow that. Therefore, I am sending you away, so that one day you will grow strong enough to defeat him. If you were allowed to be taken in by that…_fiend_, you would never be able to achieve your full potential. I am sending you in the place of one of the low-class children being sent to a far-away system, so that you will be able to train there without disturbance. You will be treated like a god there, Son. You will be able to live the life a true Prince of All Saiyans should live; a life which Frieza wishes to rob you of. I don't plan on giving him that satisfaction, my son."

The young Prince's body began to tremble, not from fear but from anger. A vein suddenly appeared on the boy's forehead and began to throb as Vegeta's eyes bulged, barely able to contain the rage he held for his father.

"Do you believe that I am a coward?!" screamed the flame-haired prince with a stamp of his foot which cracked the tiles beneath him. "We are Saiyans! The greatest warrior race the universe has ever seen! We NEVER flee from our enemies! Or, at least, that's what you told me before now. Why do you always wish to disgrace me father!? Why are you seeking to steal my pride and honor from me!?"

"This is not about your honor or pride!" bellowed the King, causing even his fearless son to cower slightly. "This is about your survival; that is all that matters now. It is because you are the Prince of All Saiyans that you must go. If you, my son, are taken by that fiend, then you _will _be stripped of any pride and honor you possess as a Saiyan. Frieza will use every opportunity to break you and your pride. Not only would you lose your honor, but all of my pride would be stolen if I allowed this to happen, and I will NOT allow that Arcosian bastard to steal that away from us."

Vegeta stood in stunned silence for a few moments, his chin seemingly glued to the breastplate he wore, before finally regaining his voice.

"You really are a coward," he said in a whisper. "As warriors, our preferred way to die should be in the glory of battle. That is the only honorable way to die... and yet… you wish for me to abandon my home in order to save my own life instead of fighting to the death for our people's pride against that sadistic lizard! You may be a coward afraid to die, but I am not, Father. I will fight Frieza now if that is my destiny! What I will not do is stay here and listen to your idiotic talk any longer!"

With a flourish of his scarlet cape, the black-haired Vegeta turned on his heel and began to storm out of the launch deck. The Prince fully intended to leave this wretched place and never see his father's face again. If Frieza wanted him, than he could have him, but he wasn't going to go down without a fight!

Things didn't go according to plans for the adolescent, though, as he was suddenly stopped when his father phased right in his path. Before Vegeta could even open his mouth to yell at his imbecile of a parent, the king had already delivered a swift, yet powerful, jab to the boy's stomach. The prince's mouth was agape in pain, forming an inaudible scream, before losing all control of his muscles and collapsing onto the stoic form of his father.

Vegeta was unable to move a muscle as he felt himself suddenly lifted off of the floor and slung over his father's shoulder. His vision flickered between complete blackness and a blur, but the boy was still able to tell that his father was forcibly carrying him over to the pod that would take him to this distant, mud-ball planet.

Unable to protest or even give his father a death glare, Vegeta was powerless to stop the king from gently placing him inside of the pod and setting the machine to launch in thirty seconds. Even though his head was spinning, the prince was still able to see an expression that he had never seen on his proud father's face before: sorrow.

"I am sorry, my son," the King muttered. "I know you will hate me for this, but I know that one day you will be able to become the Legend and avenge our people."

The only sound that the boy could make in response to his father's words was a low groan before the door to the pod slid shut. As the ship began to shake violently from the thrusters and the Prince was being flown through the atmosphere of his home world, Vegeta could feel the control of his muscles slowly returning to him. Even his eyesight was beginning to readjust and he could see the red hue of the sky as his pod blasted through the final layer of the atmosphere and into the cold depths of space.

Just as Vegeta began to move his arm to manually bring the pod back to the surface of the planet, a hissing sound suddenly filled the entire pod. A string of curses left the prince's mouth as a drowsy feeling suddenly overtook him, and his limb fell heavily to his side. Even through his induced sleepiness, Vegeta's eyes widened in horror at the last imagine that his eyes were able to capture before they collapsed shut on him, and his mind drifted into a nightmarish hell of that one picture: the picture of a giant, orange sphere of energy colliding into Planet Vegeta.

* * *

_Thank you for reading the first chapter of_ Role Reversal _by LucifVegeta, Full Power, pointer39, and FinalFlashX! We hope you continue along with us as we unveil what will certainly be an epic tale of fantastical victories, tragic defeats, and everything in between! Please feel free to ask any questions you wish in your reviews, for we will be happy to answer them! 'Til next time!_


	2. Doomsday

Deep inside one of the medical stations on Planet Vegeta, a rejuvenation tank was currently in use in an effort to revive the comatose Saiyan, Tora. Two of the Planet Trade Organization's medical officers, Planthorr and Malaka, were hard at work in an attempt to heal the heavily wounded warrior.

On the other side of the room, a trio of bored Saiyans awaited for their comrade to emerge from the tank completely healed. They had all agreed that there was no reason for them to engage in their next mission without both Bardock and Tora along for the ride. Not to mention that they hadn't heard anything of their leader's whereabouts since their time on Kanassa.

"How much longer, Doc?" asked Fasha for the tenth time since they arrived. With both Tora and Bardock gone, it was necessary to become the de facto leader of their squad, and she was fed up with dealing with all the paperwork that went along with that role.

"Pestering us doesn't make it go any faster!" Malaka refuted with a slight frown.

Fasha grunted and narrowed her dark eyes. "I'm not exactly in a good mood."

"Well, that's not my problem," The doctor shrugged off.

"No, but it will be if you don't answer our questions."

"Just a few more minutes now," Planthorr finally intervened.

As all of the bickering continued on, something else was occurring inside of Tora's mind. Something that couldn't quite be explained by any science that even the mighty Planet Trade Organization had at its disposal…

* * *

Tora awoke on a planet he did not recognize, but that wasn't what came as a shock to him. Not far from him was _himself_ sparring with two young brats. He recognized one of them as Raditz, and the other boy bore a shocking resemblance to Bardock. It could only mean that Tora was witnessing a spar between himself and Bardock's two sons, but how? Neither of them were even close to that age yet. What the hell was going on?

The duo was surprisingly giving the... other... Tora a good battle, and he watched as Kakarot smacked him into the air. The doppelganger recovered quickly, but he was late to notice the elder of the two brothers sneak up and plow into his skull with a double-fisted strike that sent him crashing into the ground.

A blue globe of energy began to formulate in Raditz's hand, but Kakarot quickly intervened. "Wait! He's finished, Raditz! I can't sense very much energy coming from him."

Raditz stood down, which confused Tora even more. Sense?! Raditz?!

Just before he could intervene and teach the brats a lesson, he found himself somewhere else: another planet Tora had never been to. Two lizard-like beings stood before one warrior, but before he could identify who exactly it was, the scene changed once more.

_Where am I now!?_ he wondered irritably, scanning his surroundings. Space- that's where he was. More specifically the atmosphere of the beautiful Planet Vegeta. That's when he realized he wasn't alone; there was a saucer-like spacecraft up above, and two armored figures floating there, one of them looking very, very angry.

Tora rather quickly recognized the first one to be King Vegeta, but who was the other warrior? Tora moved in and got closer, then froze as it hit him.

_Frieza..._

Within seconds, King Vegeta was sent plummeting down the black abyss. The tyrant raised his pointer finger up; the tip of it was flickering with a miniature ball of what resembled fire. The falling King Vegeta didn't have a chance in hell as Frieza's ball rapidly grew in size until it was positively massive, and then it was launched at not only King Vegeta, but the planet itself.

"NO!" Tora screamed, but the maniacal tyrant seemed oblivious to anything he did or said as the Arcosian watched the King of All Saiyans be consumed by his giant Death Ball before it went crashing down into the Saiyan planet itself.

"BASTARD!" Tora shouted in an eruption of rage, but as he tried to lash out at Frieza, the Saiyan found that he was rooted to the one spot. He couldn't move, and he was forced to watch as his planet imploded before his very eyes.

By now, Frieza was admiring his own handiwork and laughing as the entire Saiyan race was annihilated. "OH, MY! THIS IS STUPENDOUS! WOW, WHAT A GREAT SHOW!"

_Is this even happening?_

Before anything further could happen, Tora was suddenly surrounded by a different terrain. The warrior was no longer in space, but he was now on a planet with a blue sky, standing in a very green, luscious, grassy wasteland.

There was a pair of Saiyan warriors standing side-by-side, their tails casually wrapped around their waists as they surveyed the terrain. The taller warrior possessed extremely long, black hair that had grown all the way to nearly his knees along with a prominent widow's peak and harsh facial features. The other warrior seemed to be a carbon copy of Bardock, except with slightly paler skin, and he was missing the numerous scars that Bardock had acquired throughout his life. Tora gulped as it dawned on him whom these two must be; these were the adult versions of the children he had just seen himself sparring with: Raditz and Kakarot.

"So, Kakarot, what do you think?" Raditz queried.

Tora's eyes widened as he continued to watch the siblings. The brothers were united and alone… what did this mean? Was this the future? Was Tora dead at this time?

"I think that it's not too late." He paused, and both warriors glared in Tora's direction. "Not too late for you to _change, _Tora."

"W-Where are we?"

"We're in the future, Tora... but that's only if you do what you have to do... to survive," Raditz replied in a serious tone.

"What? I have no idea what you're talking about! Survive what?"

The scenery changed once more. Planet Vegeta was in front of him again, but this time, Frieza's attack wasn't there; Tora was all alone. Or so he thought…

"So it was just a dream?" he muttered, sighing in relief.

"Tora."

He was surprised to see Kakarot at his side and instinctively backed away.

Kakarot pointed off into space. There were five pods distancing from the planet with nearly invisible jetstreams bursting out from behind them. This was nothing out of the usual, though; Saiyans went on missions in groups of five or six all the time.

"That's you... Tora, you must get off the planet. It's not only _your_ only hope, but _mine_ as well not to mention my father's and the rest of your crew's."

The scenery changed once again and Tora found himself standing in the middle of a dark, dampened dungeon in the palace of King Vegeta. In the crevices of the dungeon were piles of dust and feces from numerous rodents that managed to crawl in the cage during some point in time. Sitting before him was his best-friend, Bardock, in ki-supressing, metallic chains. So was this where Bardock had disappeared to?

"You have to rescue him and then get off of Planet Vegeta before it's too late, Tora." The lower-class Saiyan warrior turned to see that Kakarot was once again standing at his side, nearly identical to his father. "It's up to you to preserve the Saiyan legacy and keep our race from extinction."

"I don't understand!" he shouted, but no one was there to hear him... he was alone once again.

When he turned his head, King Vegeta and Frieza were there, just like before. He watched it all unfold again, and the rage continued to build up, and build up, and build up...

* * *

The computer began beeping and making other warning alerts. The two doctors rushed over to it in a hurry, dropping their chemicals carelessly, and the lab was filled with the loud sound of glass shattering on the cold, metal floor.

"Get him out of there! Quick!"

Planthorr complied and deactivated the rejuvenation tank, and as the green liquid that had surrounded the Saiyan's body slowly drained away, the group of observers witnessed as Tora's eyelids slowly began to open.

"Are you all right, Tora? You just gave us a scare!" proclaimed Malaka as the nude warrior casually ripped out the tubes that had been attached to his body, causing the pair of doctors to wince at the destruction of their equipment.

"I-I think so," replied the mullet-haired warrior as he slowly flexed one of his biceps. "In fact, I feel stronger than ever now."

"Doc, what happened?" Fasha asked, noticing that the two medical officers had exchanged a glance before scanning over one of their monitors.

"Well... we were detecting..." Malaka hesitated, unsure of how the data he had seen would be received by the gang of ruthless planet destroyers.

"Well?" She pressed with her typical frown.

Malaka swallowed hard. "Abnormal brain activity."

_The Kanassan! Of course... I'm getting visions because of him! He said something about visions of ourselves dying! Funny, he gave me these powers to see my end, and now they're going to save us all. How ironic._

Fasha and her two companions gasped, but Tora didn't seem to pay it any mind as he calmly walked over to where his teal armor had been hung. Slowly, he took down the armor and began to dress before slightly turning his head to look over at the two alien doctors.

"Thank you for your assistance in my recovery. As payment for your services, I would suggest you leave Planet Vegeta immediately. It would be a very good for your long-term health."

The two medical men looked at the Saiyan curiously. Sighing, Tora quickly said, "Look, I can't explain exactly how I know, but I do know that you'll die if you stay. So if I were you, I would hop on the next shuttle leaving the planet... and I would do it quickly." The two doctors did not wait any longer to heed the man's order, and they were gone by the time Tora had slipped on his breastplate.

"What about us, Tora?" asked Borgos, his rippling muscles tensing up at his friend's mention of almost certain death. "Aren't we going to follow them out of here?"

"Of course we are, Borgos," answered Tora before continuing. "We're going to rescue Bardock first, though."

"What?" responded his comrades, but the Saiyan seemed oblivious to their sudden cry of alarm and shock about the whereabouts of their leader.

"I guess we should grab Kakarot on the way, and- "

"Tora!? What are you talking about?" asked Fasha, frustrated by the lack of information Tora was sharing with them, not to mention how Tora had even gotten all of it in the first place.

"Just trust me. This is about _life _and_ death_. I'll explain everything on the way, so let's go!" he commanded as he slipped a green scouter across his eye. "Next stop for us, guys: King Vegeta's palace."

* * *

The King of All Saiyans, wielding as much elegance and titular-induced propriety as possible, sauntered purposefully down the empty hallway. His hardened and bearded mien was twisted into a fit of both anger and sorrow, and to make matters worse, he was forced to traverse through the low-class hallway in efforts to avoid any attention. Glancing from wall to wall the king was disgusted, and his furrowed brow and pursed lips were plenty evidence for anyone to see his visible abhorrence with the "lesser" hallway in the building.

The gray walls - which, contrary to the hallways for Saiyan Elites, didn't have pieces of artwork and illustrious sculptures protruding from them - were nearly empty, save for several large foundation cracks and a slew of dust bunnies covering the lower portions. The concrete floor was not carpeted, nor was it painted; it was simply concrete. Each step the king took created a slight tap on the empty floor, and his blue, pointed boots made the only sound in the room. All was quiet on King Vegeta's front. His naturally dark eyes grimaced even more as the stench of dirt and grime overcame him, and the few, circular lights above him flickered silently as he walked.

His immense displeasure brewed not from his son's departure. In fact, it mattered little to the king that he would most likely never be seeing his son again, the very son his wife birthed, the very son that would have eventually taken his place as ruler of the Saiyans. King Vegeta never saw his son as more than a mere jewel in the crown of the Saiyans, a chess piece in the game of universal ascendancy. Now that his new plan had been enacted, he thought of the younger Vegeta as nothing more than that dormant queen piece hidden in the background of the larger game, waiting to strike.

No, instead of feeling a pit of sorrow in his lower gut, the marvelously evil king was simply focused on bigger things. His son's well-being was important, but only because it represented the force of Saiyan might that would eventually tear Frieza into tiny ivory pieces. And even more integral was making sure that the increasingly sadistic Arcosian NEVER find out about the plan to raise the Saiyan prince on a different planet. Somehow, the king knew he would have to act to force Frieza not to somehow find out about it... but the clock was ticking, and as he clenched his gloved fists together while he walked, only one plan pounded mercilessly in his brain: fight Frieza to distract him from his son's departure.

At the end of the hallway waited the esteemed General Nappa, accompanied by the very same Saiyan guards that delivered the younger Vegeta to his father just minutes ago. The brutish man leaned against the wall outside the hallway (which was noticeably cleaner than the ones in the low-class pathway) while the two guards simply stood to either side of him. Wearing his typical yellow and black armor, the massive warrior was one to be feared by all, and while many considered him to be rather dim, the king knew better; Nappa was one of the smartest military minds on Planet Vegeta, capable of formulating infallible strategies to conquer entire planets like nothing more than a board game.

Usually the warrior general would be wearing his trademark smirk, but it was a dark time, and the air was drenched with incalculable levels of tension. As soon as the blue bootstraps and flourishing maroon cape of King Vegeta crossed into the main chamber, Nappa dropped onto his left knee, bowing at the king's stoic figure. He gazed towards the ground and draped one of his gigantic hands over his bare kneecap. The guards quickly followed in his posture, and Vegeta halted his movement in front of his loyal warriors.

"You may rise," the king muttered in such a tone that it almost seemed to be a growl.

Nappa and the guards rose to their feet.

None said a word.

They each knew that something malefic was on the horizons, something of a tragedy that could strike at any moment, but they all trusted in their king and knew that it had to be done. Nappa specifically was a bit apprehensive at such a plot for the sole reason that the risk might not equal the reward. If Frieza were to find out about such an act, such a thing that would be considered a gross trepidation... he would kill them all without hesitation. Quite a risk for the plan of sending a little boy to train on another planet.

But at the same time, Nappa had the utmost faith in his king's decisions. A Saiyan knew better than to openly distrust royalty, and Nappa had enough experience under his belt to realize that the king was usually right, and if he wasn't, he would find a way to GET it right one way or another.

Breaking several trains of thought, Vegeta exhaled deeply before speaking in the same dark and mellow tone as before. "Come. We must make a course of action if Vegeta is to make it to his new home without interference from that bastard Frieza."

The guards each nodded solemnly, and Nappa uncrossed his bulging arms before following in his king's footsteps. The king was already pacing himself down the main corridor and heading down a hallway on the other side of the room which led away from the pod areas. "Sire, what type of plan do you have in mind?" the brute asked as he stalked behind his king.

"We must make sure that Frieza is unable to know my son is off of our planet. If it calls for an open rebellion, then so be it. This is the only chance we have of ending that spineless lizard's tyranny, and I will make sure that it does not go awry." The King continued in his trek across the dimly-lit hallway, the glistening gray colors of the finely-crafted walls making a much more suitable hallway for the Elite Saiyan foursome.

Seconds went by without an answer, so the typically stoic king grew restless, scowling even more and furrowing his large brow deeply. "Nappa, you blundering idiot! Don't just sit there and gawk; this is the most important task of your life!" He whipped his armored body around, and his glare seemed to penetrate into Nappa's quivering soul, wearing the stare of the fiercest warrior imaginable.

Nappa nodded quietly, although his body slightly shook with anticipation. His king was feared by everyone, and the general was not an exception to that rule; in fact, he may have feared the king more than any other Saiyan simply because he would be held with the highest level of blame should anything go wrong. Quickly wiping a bead of sweat off of his large forehead, Nappa gulped and continued walking.

"I... My lord, I don't know... An open challenge to Frieza would be suicide," Nappa stated, feeling the pressure knot in his gut and several drops of sweat to drip to the ground.

After Nappa spoke, the great king halted in his tracks and turned around to face Nappa. "You raise a good point, General. But in the same sense as that would be suicide, allowing this to go by without any sort of distraction would be fatal beyond measure. Even if Frieza didn't know, there's no telling what sort of intel he could gather from his position." Vegeta frowned and crossed his arms, leaning back against the wall with his fiery hair slightly collapsing forward from the contact. "Of course, that isn't even to say he could have one of his pathetic forces search through our data, or..."

Stopping in his speech, the king's pupils enlarged, and he immediately ground his pure-white teeth together with a large grimace. He had made a grave miscalculation in his initial planning, and he wasn't sure if it could be rectified. Frieza may have been a sniveling baby when things didn't go his way, and he may have been an arrogant bastard at all other times, but there was one fact that could not be denied: Frieza was not a fool. And with the king's mistake, Frieza could easily find out what had happened to the younger Vegeta.

It was a problem that would have to be solved, and quickly.

The guards and Nappa curiously awaited for him to continue with his spiel. Nappa's jaw was slightly agape and his eyebrows were curved upward while the guards exchanged a few quick words about the king's condition. Still thinking, however, was the stupefied Vegeta, and he clenched his fists together within his still-bloodied gloves. Despite his usual belief that he could never falter with any sort of objective, the king felt slightly different this time, most likely because this plan was the most important plan he had ever enacted. Not a single miscalculation could be allowed to survive, and it was his duty as the most powerful Saiyan alive to eradicate any chance of Frieza ever realizing Vegeta was off the planet... at least until he was safely out of the lizard's detection.

And in a matter of seconds, the king's aggressive and arrogant nature came to benefit him, as his neurons began firing and ideas began to churn, building and building and building until growing larger, and then they increased even more to the point where... it came to him.

It was a rather despicable plan, and it all went against his very code as a Saiyan, but it was something that had to be done. Besides, who better to break the code of honor than the king himself? Vegeta's frown visibly lightened, but rather than smirking at his own ingenuity, he kept his appearance stoic. This was going to be double-edged, but he knew the reward, in this case, would greatly outweigh the consequences.

"Go, Nappa. All of you go immediately to the board room. This could be the difference between the salvation of my son, and that slimy bastard gaining victory!" he shouted with two clasped fists.

Nappa's lips curled upward in a fine smirk as he began to march toward the board room with the two guards. Whatever the plan was, he had no doubts that it would be successful enough to save the prince from certain death.

_Haha! Frieza won't know what hit him! _Nappa thought inwardly, taking a moment to chuckle with a devious grin. Within seconds, Nappa and his two guards were on the move, silently sauntering down the gray hallway. Vegeta kept along quietly behind them, never uttering more than a grunt of pure distaste. Soon, out of his peripheral vision, the gargantuan brute, Nappa, glimpsed the figure of Vegeta stopped dead in his tracks. The general quickly halted his movement as well and motioned toward the king with a slight head tilt, alerting the two guards to stop moving as well.

Vegeta had a guise of intensity over his chiseled face, glaring intently ahead with his fists at his side next to his flowing, red cape. The guard on Nappa's left glanced toward Nappa, who simply shrugged him off with raised eyebrows.

"My liege, is everything all right?" the guard asked, stepping forward to offer assistance with an outstretched hand.

And that was the last movement he would ever make.

Within milliseconds the king's white glove shot forward and latched into the previously armored gut of the soldier. The Saiyan released a tremendous screech of pure agony as he dropped onto his knees, feeling the terrible pain of flesh being forcibly torn. His eyes were forced shut as Vegeta jerked his glove - now stained bright red - out of the soldier's intestines. Deep red blood poured onto the previously clean ground and spread like a wildfire, and within seconds the guard collapsed to the ground with a thud in a pool of his own blood, never to awake again.

Nappa and the other guard were held speechless as they gawked at the sight of their brethren. Immediately, the king flew toward the other guard and pulled back his forearm before striking the neck of the guard and slicing it cleanly off. With bulged eyes and an gaping jaw, the head bounced into the puddle of blood and rolled down the corridor, creating a fine display of hideous sadism. And, of course, immediately after that occurred, the body of the Saiyan collapsed effortlessly and was immediately flung to the side by Vegeta's kiai.

Silently, the bloodlusted king lurched toward Nappa with a snarl of something that Nappa didn't expect to see: revulsion. The general, who was cowering like a petrified child in the corner of the room, furrowed his brow in curiosity, although the angst was profusely overtaking the mighty Saiyan. His king was not doing this for pure sadism... no, this was something more, something that the king deemed necessary...

"V-Vegeta... W-why?" the baffled Saiyan stuttered as he braced himself for punishment. His hands were on the ground, seemingly in a position where he was trying to push the floor downward, and he continued to sit, aghast with horror.

The king continued his slow approach until stopping nearly a foot in front of the general's pathetic posture. He slowly outstretched his stained glove in front of him and pointed directly at the cowering warrior.

"No loose ends, General Nappa."

Nappa's beady, black eyes bulged uncontrollably as he began to scream, and in mere moments a thin, purple energy stream exploded out of Vegeta's hand. Electricity rippled around the air, and it shot straight through the Saiyan's enlarged glabellar region before fracturing his skull and therefore his brain. Thin wisps of gray smoke emerged from the hole between his eyes as the general's body slumped against the wall limply. Nappa was dead.

* * *

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Bardock frowned as he heard the irritating repeating noises of the clock in his dungeon cell. Yes, despite the fact it was a dungeon, King Vegeta had implemented clocks onto the wall so that his victims and prisoners could watch time pass by slowly, losing themselves and their minds as a result. The cuffs around his hands were tight, and they wouldn't allow him to use ki. Once again, King Vegeta had made being a prisoner so much fun with his innovative tactics.

Bardock was resilient, though, and he wouldn't be broken so easily. He may have been a low-class – and being a low-class inferred that you would lose your sanity easily - but he wouldn't give in and let his tyrannical captor that was King Vegeta win.

It was tough, though. All he had inside the damp and musky dungeon was a clock and a smoothed rock to use as a pillow. What brainless idiot came up with the idea to leave a fellow Saiyan a rock as a pillow? Guess who? Marvelous King Vegeta!

_Looks like Vegeta learned a few tricks from Frieza after all... _Bardock thought internally, folding his scarred arms across his chest at the thought of the Arcosian that the Saiyans were forced to call "my lord". Bardock had been lucky enough never to have a face-to-face conversation with the Frost Demon, but that didn't mean that Bardock appreciated his less-than-gratuitous nature. If you were a Saiyan and you liked Frieza, then you were usually killed for treason or pure social stupidity.

"Hey, you gonna let me outta here, or what?" Bardock asked the two security guards standing outside. "If you keep this up, you're gonna wish you were the ones in this hellhole."

One of the guards looked at Bardock and raised an eyebrow. Despite his reputation as one of the strongest low-classes in history, the guard wasn't afraid of Bardock, although he most likely should have been- his burly appearance contradicted his height tremendously as he was one of the shortest Saiyans on the planet. "Watch your mouth, bud, or you're gonna get it," the guard gruffly muttered as his brown eyes glared at the imprisoned Saiyan.

"Oh, yeah? Open up this cage, and I'll show you what I'm made of," taunted Bardock. The spiky-haired Saiyan raised his right arm out and mockingly wiggled two fingers as his lips curled upward in a smirk.

The miniature guard clenched his black, gloved fist and glared at Bardock, nearly snarling with rage. "Why I oughta feed you to the-"

"Ah, shut up, we both know you won't do anything." Bardock continued to smirk, leaning back against the wall and putting his hands behind his black-haired head. "You and your friend are just pawns for Vegeta. I'd say I feel bad for you, but I don't. You can't fix stupid."

Now the other guard – a beast of a man with a receding hairline and a beard - curved his mouth into a large frown and narrowed his furry brow at the prisoner. "Watch yourself, Bardock. You'd be a fool to keep talking."

"I gotta say, Bardock, I think I agree with your guard here," a voice laughed, making all three Saiyans swivel their heads with raised brows toward the walkway. A group of four Saiyans, each varying in height, weight, and size, walked through the door. This group, of course, was Bardock's squadron and team: Fasha, Shugesh, Borgos, and Tora.

"Tora, you're back! You guys survived without me; I'm shocked," Bardock sarcastically joked before glancing at Tora again. Something was off about the way his friend looked and how he was conducting himself. The normally happy Saiyan had a stoically serious guise, one Bardock had never seen on Tora's face before. "You look different…"

Fasha turned to the two armored guards and pointed at the caged Saiyan with her clean, white glove. "Hey, let him go."

"Oh yeah, little lady, and why should we do that?" one of the guards asked, grinning. "What are you going to do to make us free your friend?" Fasha smirked and jumped into the air, performing a flip. The guard focused his attention on her attractive backside, and as a result, was kicked across the face with Fasha's boot. Fasha's kicks were always very powerful, and her opponent had learned this firsthand. The guard, now unconscious and in no shape to wake up anytime soon, fell to the floor with a thud, a large, black welt quickly forming on his cheek.

"Wh-what the?" the other guard exclaimed with bulging eyes, getting into a fighting stance. His fellow guard remained on the ground, twisting and making quiet moans. "You're gonna pay for that, you stupid bi-"

THACK!

Fasha took the guard by surprise with an uppercut, connecting her fist with the man's jaw in a brutal fashion. As the man fell to his knees, shocked by the power of the attack and spitting a bit of blood out, Fasha took both hands, brought them together, and slammed them down in the form of an Axe Handle. Both guards were now sprawled out on the floor and seeing stars like they were in space. Tiny cracks had formed on the concrete ground from the bodies hitting so harshly.

Borgos' jaw went wide open in astonishment. "Damn, I wouldn't ever wanna piss you off…"

Tora looked down to the Elites with a slight sigh, almost as if he was disappointed in the outcome. "Sorry about that, but I need Bardock to come with us."

"Could you guys have taken any longer? I thought I was going to kill myself of boredom," Bardock quickly remarked while Tora walked over and unlatched the metallic door, snapping Bardock's handcuffs shortly after. The scar-faced Saiyan rubbed his bruised wrists and glanced up to his crew, none of whom were smiling.

"So, how'd the mission - wait a minute, Shugesh, what the hell are you holding?" Bardock asked, trying to figure out what was in his overweight comrade's hands. "Is that a... a baby?"

Shugesh grinned, his food-stained teeth briefly making an appearance. Everyone who saw grimaced and looked away. "Yeah, Bardock, Tora insisted that we go and pick up your son. Say hello to daddy, Kakarot!" Shugesh held the baby up with both hands. Suddenly, the young boy woke up, turned to look at Shugesh, and started bawling his eyes out.

"Awesome parenting, Shugesh. Now I know why no woman will mate with you," Fasha said sarcastically, smirking along the way. She took Kakarot into her hands and rocked the baby, slowly quieting him until his crying ended almost as quickly as it began.

"The hell? Why is Kakarot here? What the hell happened?" Bardock growled, his harsh eyes meeting Tora's eyes. Tora looked away for a second, took a deep breath, and turned to his lifelong friend.

"To answer your question about Kakarot, we were informed by a Saiyan soldier that you had given the boy to him, and you had gone to confront King Vegeta, so we went and got your son. About the mission, here's what happened on Kanassa…"

And so Bardock was filled in on what had transpired on the now-desolate planet. Everything from the Oozaru transformations, to Tora receiving the physic powers, to the vision of Planet Vegeta meeting its end at the hands of Frieza, to the vision of Kakarot becoming a great and powerful warrior.

Bardock, now, had sat down on one of the many benches outlining the walls. He dropped his head into his cupped hands, shocked at everything he'd been told. "Frieza... he's really going to turn against us?"

"I can't say I'm shocked. Come on, Bardock, it's no secret he hates Saiyans!" Fasha remarked, extending a petite hand to her comrade to pull him up from the ground.

"It's not just that he hates Saiyans – he fears our power. He thinks that we're getting way too powerful." Shaking his head, Tora grimaced and ground his front teeth together. "We've been assigned to go to Planet Meat. I don't know about you guys, but I think we should get off planet and head toward a different location."

"Why?" Bardock asked, scowling. "I'm not running away from this! If Frieza wants a war, that's exactly what he's gonna get!"

"It's not running away, Bardock!" Tora quickly retorted, sending the stronger Saiyan back to the bench in annoyance. "Our civilization, our race, everything we know is about to be destroyed. The visions showed that Kakarot will grow up to be a powerful Saiyan warrior, and we're five of the strongest fighters in the Saiyan race right now – if we escape the genocide of the Saiyans, we can continue to get stronger and get our revenge one day!" Tora argued, knowing that if he found the right points to convince Bardock to come with them, the palm-tree haired Saiyan would indeed go with the rest of his crew.

Bardock, however, looked away with his own grimace. "You raise a good point, my friend. But where would we go? It seems like Frieza has a grasp on the entire galaxy; where could a bunch of low-class Saiyans go?"

Borgos thought for a second. "Obviously there has to be at least one place that's not under Planet Trade Organization control. We just have to find it."

"Duh," Bardock muttered quietly, unable to even look his comrade in the eyes after the obviousness of that statement. "I think I remember hearing Nappa once say that a good chunk of the area around here is under Frieza's rule, so I guess we should find a planet that hasn't been conquered yet. With so many planets needing to be purged, the likelihood that Frieza searches one of them is very low. Any ideas?"

"We'll find a place. We should stack up on provisions and food because we don't know how long we're going to be looking," suggested Fasha with her left eyebrow raised. "I'd also recommend we find a way to make it seem like we died in battle. That way they won't come searching for us."

"Well, what if we could make it appear like we stayed here on planet, and were killed with the rest of the Saiyans?" Tora's idea wasn't too bad, and the rest of his crew nodded silently. "It's our best option."

"Agreed, and we can deal with whatever happens from there. Now, where are your pods?" Bardock asked, trying to remember exactly where his was. Was it near his small home? No.

"Your pod's with ours, Bardock," Tora said, causing everyone to look wide-eyed at him. "You went silent after asking where our pods were, so I just assumed you couldn't remember where your pod was."

"Yeah, sure... but we gotta take the kid?" Bardock wondered, skeptical about taking Kakarot. Kakarot was his son, yes, but was it worth taking him? Tora may have had visions of Kakarot becoming a great warrior, but the future is always in motion; one vision could be true, and another could be false. And besides... Kakarot was still a weakling at that point in time. Dealing with him would be a constant aggravation. Quickly, though, Tora shot his idea down.

"Yes! What don't you get? He could be the greatest Saiyan ever with the right training, so let's just bring him!" Tora insisted, gently taking Kakarot from Fasha and holding him up. "He looks so much like you, Bardock, and he'll become just as strong a warrior!"

Bardock sighed loudly and started to walk towards the exit. "You know what? Fine. He can come, but he's riding with you!"

The Saiyans all laughed at Bardock's remark, but Fasha nudged her comrade, Tora, in the shoulder after several chuckles.

"Hey, uh, don't you think they're going to wonder how you got out?" she asked, pointing toward the unconscious bodies of the injured soldiers.

"Maybe, but who cares?" Bardock raised a hand to the sky and blasted a hole through it. Small boulders and pieces of debris fell from the ceiling and tumbled around on the lower level, but none of the Saiyans minded it, nor did they mind the annoying noise that came from the collision. "Let's get the hell out of here!"

* * *

"Here we go! The pods!" Bardock exclaimed, running as fast as he could. Why run so fast? The Saiyan had no idea exactly when Frieza was coming, and it was ideal that they get off planet as quickly as possible. Bardock and his crew had already stored up on supplies for their trip, and now they just wanted to leave.

It had been a much easier escape then they had anticipated; the group had heard a couple of the king's guards saying that he had went to one of the docking bays or something, so they were just going to take it easy until someone asked. Lazy weaklings in Bardock's opinion.

With their food, water, and spare equipment (scouters, armor, all the essentials for a traveling Saiyan warrior) in hand, it was time to leave the planet that they called home... forever.

"Hold up! I can only run so fast while holding _your_ son!" Tora joked with a grin. Lucky for the squadron, all five pods were on the same landing deck. That had been arranged as a result of the missions that they were assigned and the difficulty in them – the higher ranking your squadron was, the better chance you had of getting your own landing deck for your pods.

"Watch out!" Shugesh yelled, knocking another traveler over accidentally. The person in question was a spiky-haired Saiyan with a couple of scars and sideburns. The Saiyan glared at the bumbling excuse for a warrior that had ran past him.

"Fat fool."

At last, the five had gotten to their pods, and for a couple of seconds, a solemn mood came over the Saiyans. While they were away from Planet Vegeta for most of their lives, the feeling that they'd never be returning was sad and sobering. Without even telling each other, all five Saiyans looked up to the sky, the beautiful red sky, with all dark clouds and crimson glares.

Baby Kakarot looked up too, seeing the sky for what would be his first - and last - time. The baby gaped his jaw with astonishment as he stared upward, his cool and innocent brown eyes growing big. Despite being so young, the boy felt in his heart what would be the last time he ever saw his own planet, and a pit of sadness grew in his tiny stomach. None of the Saiyans wished to leave... but it was time.

"Let's get outta here. There's a time for reminiscing about the good ole glory days of Planet Vegeta, and that time will be after we kill Frieza," Bardock said quietly, turning and opening the hatch to his pod. Each of his fellow Saiyans followed and did the same task. Activating the controls to their pods, the Saiyans all had different looks on their faces: Bardock's was calm, Tora's was disappointed, Fasha's was nostalgic, Shugesh's was angry, and Borgos took a second to stop eating his snack and look accepting. Kakarot's face was confused, but that soon evaporated as he fell back asleep.

With a loud noise, five Attack Balls took off from the beautiful planet of Vegeta, never to return. This was the beginning of a new journey for Bardock and his squadron; a journey that would change their lives, forever…

* * *

A godly amount of vainglorious pride radiated off of Vegeta's white and red armor as he strolled down the dim hallways once more. Droplets of scarlet liquid were stained into the fibers of his outfit, leaving his shiny and pure appearance littered with reminders of murder. As his cerulean shoes tapped lightly on the silver floors, and his crimson cape rippled in his wake, Vegeta was largely stoic. Hell, maybe even a little bit pleased. If one could be pleased after murder, it would be someone as competent and cultivated in that dastardly art as Vegeta was, and with a slight frown (which was as much of an implication toward his pleased attitude as possible), the king hastily marched onward.

Killing the two guards and his greatest soldier, Nappa, was more heartbreaking in the sense that he had gotten his hands dirty than the fact that three Saiyan warriors had been killed ruthlessly and without any semblance of honor. Executions were fairly straightforward for the king, so much so that he often went straight to the killing instead of the witty torture that he had once been able to deliver, but these weren't regular executions. These soldiers were only killed for one reason, and it wasn't because they had committed treason or high anarchy. They were killed because they knew too much, and Vegeta knew by experience that leaving loose ends around could come around to bite him in the ass someday.

The guards, for example, both knew that Vegeta had been sent to a different planet. Did they know where? Possibly not. Regardless, that seemingly insignificant factoid of information could be vital in an investigation by Frieza, and it could prove to be the end of the elder Vegeta's plan for good. Nappa was in the same boat as the guards, and despite what would be his likely assurances that he would never be able to be interrogated by Frieza, Vegeta knew that it was far too great of a risk to keep around. Sadly, it resulted in the loss of his life, but one Saiyan's life was not much of a price to pay if the end result was Frieza's demise.

All in all, Vegeta couldn't care less that he had been forced to kill three of his associates. His rule was self-imposed, and if people needed to be exterminated in order for his goals to succeed, than so be it.

Disposing of the bodies was relatively simple for the king. In fact, the energy auras protecting them from attacks in battle were now completely exterminated since they were dead, so all it took was a slight release of energy to permanently remove their bodies from existence. All in a few seconds, and it saved the possibility of even more loose ends being created. Nobody would ever know what happened to the great General Nappa and the two Saiyan guards; for all they knew, they could have been killed on a faraway mission on Iridonia or some other unknown planet.

And now that the bodies had been disposed of, it was time to enact phase two. The young Saiyan had been sent off of the planet only a short time ago, and his pod - although seemingly microscopic compared to the monumental Arcosian ships hovering around Planet Vegeta - was still going to appear in range of Frieza's ship within moments. A distraction was needed of the highest level possible; what better than to have the second most powerful Saiyan in existence challenge Frieza openly? Not only would it divert the tyrant's attention away from the younger Vegeta, but it would also cause all of the PTO minions to watch their leader in action. By doing so, Vegeta would have a probable escape route and largely go unnoticed by everyone.

It was supposedly the perfect plan. And now, it was time.

Vegeta exited the space station and rocketed into space, leaving a cloud of brick-colored dust swirling in his wake on the dirt-ridden planet floor below him. The Saiyan quickly made his way to the upper atmosphere of his planet where he was still able to survive under the immense pressure, and he had enough experience (like many Saiyan warriors) to know how to conserve breathable gases in order to stay alive. Directly ahead of him, idly floating in the black and starry background, was a typical Arcosian mothership, as evident by the disc-like shape, gray bottom, orange top, black middle, and tiny green dots lacing the center.

Vegeta halted in his movement about two-hundred yards away from the ship and immediately folded his muscular arms across his chest. His head was slightly raised in a manner of self-inflicted elegance and displayed the arrogance of a monarch, but of course such a pose was all too common for the arrogant king. With a furrowed brow and pursed lips within his ragged beard, the king was poised and ready for the tyrant's challenge. His cape rested behind him as he waited.

After a matter of a few moments (that was all the king could afford to wait, after all), he began to get restless. Frieza did not notice the challenger, and if he did, he sure didn't care about him. Vegeta's already black eyes grew darker, and his lip raised to form a snarl. Immediately unfolding his arms, the king gathered a mass of rippling purple ki. The king's frown grew even larger, and he quickly pulled his right arm back. Within seconds, the ball of crackling energy was flung toward Frieza's ship.

Careening against the Arcosian vessel, the ball of ki exploded, creating small cracks across the surface of the ship. Vegeta smirked with pleasure. If Frieza wasn't ready for a fight before, he certainly would be now, and everyone on this side of the universe knew that Frieza was hasty when angered. As if on cue, the Arcosian flew into space, for once out of his quite pragmatic hovercraft. He halted movement directly in front of the king with a slight smirk on his ivory mien. It was a good old fashioned staredown, tyrant versus tyrant, Saiyan versus Arcosian, enemy versus enemy.

"Frieza!" Vegeta shouted, his gruff voice accompanying his elegant posture and crossed arms. "I'll kill you and rule the universe myself! You can't take my son away from me, you bastard!"

The Arcosian across from him simply chuckled lightly as he placed his arms behind his pink back and grinned. "Are you sure it will be that simple, Vegeta?" He chuckled inwardly some more as he traced his beady red eyes across Vegeta's stern and seemingly infallible guise. "I didn't think it was possible for one to be that dull, but then again, even filthy monkeys can perform some lovely little tricks from time to time..."

The Saiyan scowled at his adversary, narrowing his eyes and uncrossing his arms with clenched fists. "The might of the Saiyans is not one to underestimate! My son is not to be taken as if he were some hostage to be bartered for!"

"Au contreire, Vegeta," the Arcosian suavely stated with a slight curve of his lips. "I think you are one-hundred percent wrong, so what will you do about it, oh mighty Saiyan king?" he then inquired with a glint in his crimson eyes, now taking a swift moment to swirl his thin, purple tail behind him, almost as if he wished to show Vegeta a symbol of superiority... in some sick, twisted Arcosian manner.

And in that moment, Vegeta inwardly smirked larger than the most voluminous mouth could possibly handle. The king often held several plans within his warlike brain, and Frieza's supposedly witty dialogue awoke one of his most enticing plans from its slumber. The king was forced to release a chuckle on the outside of his once stoic guise, and his shiny, white teeth glinted through the darkness of space.

"You ask what I will do about it, Frieza, but in your ignorant stupidity to fail to realize that I have already eliminated all of your chances to take my son." A grin quietly seeped through the hardened warrior's tan face, and with narrowed eyes, Vegeta stared into the soulless red chasms that Frieza used to stare back with.

Frieza was intrigued to say the least. His brow raised, and the Arcosian beamed with delightful inquisitiveness. His quite chapped and purple lips curled in a smirk as they continued to stare at each other, neither giving an inch. "Oh, do tell, Vegeta."

Immediately the king retorted with a dark fire burning within his onyx eyes. "Frieza, your foolishness has no bounds! You see, while you were moseying in your ship, I have saved my rule... in more ways than one. My son is dead, Frieza, and you will never be able to harness his power! NEVER!"

Vegeta's words hit Frieza like small knives pricking deep into his skin. Enraged, the small tyrant shook, squeezing his hands into his fingernails and releasing droplets of plum-colored blood into the atmosphere. "W-what did y-you say...?"

"My son is dead, Frieza. And so is your plan. I cared nothing for that brat, but your plan threatened Saiyan pride, and I would not have it. We will forever relish in your failure, you bastard!" the king told in his booming voice, succeeding in angering the shaking Arcosian even more.

Frieza took a quick moment to compose himself with a swallow, but he couldn't stop his fury. Vegeta DARED to question not only his authority, but also his power?! It was as if the Saiyan thought of him as a mockery to murderous tyrants everywhere! And, of course, there was the rash disobedience... if there was anything Frieza hated more than feeling inferior, it was watching his painstakingly ostentatious plans being thwarted- especially by a Saiyan!

In the midst of the silence, the Arcosian managed to portray a guise of elegance and apathy toward the situation. For how long it would last, nobody knew. He managed to force a slight smirk and his dangerously narrow eyes glared at Vegeta's cocky grin. "An admirable feat for a lowlife such as yourself. I have a question for you, though."

Arrogance had overtook the king, and as he was so happy that his plan was enacting perfectly, he was nearly oblivious to Frieza's endearingly threatening tone. "And what's that?"

"Die."

In the span of several seconds, the irate Ice-jin pounced toward the Saiyan king, who could only helplessly watch as an ivory fist rushed toward his bearded jaw. With a disgusting crack, Vegeta could practically feel his head snap backwards, and his neck broke like a piece of light wood. The great king plummeted down back to the lower atmosphere of the planet, carrying his crimson cape and royal armor on his body, and within moments he was out of sight for Frieza.

But the tyrant wasn't done there.

With a smirk, the Arcosian began to aggregate a ball of orange energy that rippled with power, and as it enlarged in size tremendously, small bursts of energy flickered around it as if to lighten up the dark abyss surrounding Frieza.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Your disobedience has cost you the lives of your entire race! Now DIE, FILTHY MONKEYS!"

Immediately, Frieza released the massive ball of orange energy straight toward Planet's Vegeta's core, and within moments it detonated, creating a combustion that devastated the black vacuum. As the fireworks of the planet's detonation ignited all around the tyrant, his hubris and pure joy of Frieza's grinning ivory self increased tenfold.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH, MY! THIS IS STUPENDOUS! WOW, WHAT A GREAT SHOW! UNBELIEVABLE, JUST LOOK AT THAT! AHAHAHAHAHA, AHAHAHAHA!"

And as the fiendish tyrant laughed maniacally above the dead planet, King Vegeta's plan continued to be successful. It cost the great Saiyan warrior his life, and the life of his entire people... but in the end, his son was safely past Frieza's line of sight, and thus began the journey of one certain Prince of All Saiyans...

* * *

"STATUS REPORT: Entering into Earth's atmosphere in approximately twenty seconds. Time to wake up, Kakarot."

"Kakarot? Who the hell is Kakarot?" mumbled the drowsy Saiyan prince as his mind and body slowly shook off the effects of the space pod's sleeping gas. However, as his mind began to function properly again, the memory of his exodus from Planet Vegeta, along with his home world's untimely demise consumed all thoughts in his head.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Vegeta screamed as he began to flail his limbs around angrily in the pod, which signified the beginning of his royal tantrum.

"UPDATE: Now entering into Planet Earth's atmosphere. Estimated time until impact on planet's surface: thirty seconds."

"NOOO!" again shouted the prince as the pod began to shake violently, penetrating the planet's atmosphere. "I don't want to be here on this pathetic mudballl! Take me back! Take me back to Planet Vegeta! I command you to take me back home so I can avenge my people!"

A snarl formed on the young Saiyan's face when he received no answer from the metallic voice that controlled his pod. In an attempt to manually override the autopilot, Vegeta began to angrily smash any and all buttons that were within his reach. Being of royal birth, he had always been told that learning how to operate a pod was grunt work and beneath him. The low-class Saiyans were the ones tasked with preparing and driving the carriage, not the prince. As such, the young boy had no idea that the last button he had angrily mashed was the pod's self-destruct button.

Almost instantaneously after the button had been destroyed by the prince's wrathful fist, a giant explosion engulfed the boy and disintegrated the entirety of the pod that encased his body. Thanks to spending all of his life in harsh training conditions, Vegeta managed to survive the resulting explosion, though his royal armor was blown to pieces, leaving him in only his blue underclothing. And, of course, the blast had caused his body to be littered with burns and cuts.

The most damning effect of the explosion, though, was its suddenness, which left the young prince in shock and unable to move his body as he was sent spiraling towards the ground below. His body appeared to be a missile as it nosedived through the clear blue sky with fiery debris raining down around it.

* * *

Gohan felt himself beginning to pant as he continued to sprint towards the flaming area of the forest. Moments ago, the old man had witnessed a large eruption of dirt and uplifted trees as something crashed into the unsuspecting area. Based on the amount of damage that the collision had caused to the surrounding terrain, the old martial artist could only assume that a plane had misjudged the altitude of Mount Paozu and crashed after losing a wing to the mountain's peak. He only hoped that he was able to arrive in time to help any survivors out of the debris and keep the casualties as minimal as possible.

Even though the man had prepared himself for a scene of desolation and carnage, Gohan had not been expecting what he saw next. After bursting through a wall of foliage, the balding man had stumbled onto the edge of a gigantic crater that was nearly three-hundred yards in diameter and about fifty feet deep. Not even a plane could create a hole so massive, and when he saw the catalyst for all of the destruction, Gohan's mouth opened agape in a mixture of shock, awe, and... horror.

In the very center of the crater lay a single boy with spiky, jet black hair who simply wore a blue tank-top along with matching spandex pants. His hands and feet were covered by white gloves and boots that appeared to be made of the same material, and Gohan could see that the child's body had been severely injured by some sort of explosion. The most amazing and awe-inspiring thing about the boy, though, was that his chest was still moving as his lungs gasped for air.

"How is he still alive?" asked Gohan in shock as he slowly edged towards the child. Surviving such a crash inferred that the boy was some sort of extraterrestrial powerhouse, but it was not in the man's nature to turn away anyone in need.

"Don't worry," the old man said gently as he gingerly lifted the boy into his arms and turned to head back to his humble home. "I'll make sure that you're taken care of. Then we can worry about where you came from..."

* * *

_A/N:Thank you all for reading and_ _reviewing_ Role Reversal! _We would like to extend a "thank you" to all twenty-three reviewers of our first chapter. Your support means so much to us all, and it is the muse that keeps us writing! Whether it be praise or criticism, each and every review helps us out so that we may improve our writing in the future and continue to make _Role Reversal _the epic story that we promised it would be. From our writing staff to all of you, thank you so much! _

_Now, for our Q&A:_

_**Q**__: So...this fic is about Vegeta and Goku switching places? Vegeta stays on Earth and Goku grows up in the Planet Trade Organization?  
__**A: **__Well, as you can see from this chapter, Goku isn't really in the PTO- at least not in the way Vegeta was in canon. But, yes, this is a story about Vegeta growing up on Earth while Goku grows up in space. _

_**Q: **__Also...if Frieza was planning to take Vegeta away in ten days...why did he destroy the planet on that day? Surely that would have made it impossible to get the Prince in time...?  
__**A: **__We hope that this chapter allowed you all to see that the destruction of Planet Vegeta was more of a response to King Vegeta's defiance than an actual thought-out plan. _

_**Q: **__Don't exactly see why King Vegeta couldn't simply use a different low class Saiyan infant other than Kakarott, not like anything's stopping him. Or does he simply want to make sure that Frieza gets the weakest Saiyan possible?  
__**A: **__We know a lot of people were confused about this, but King Vegeta wasn't actually planning on giving Kakarot to Frieza. He was just using Kakarot's pod to hide Vegeta and send him as far away from Frieza as possible. He wanted Kakarot so he could kill him to cover up a loose end, not so he could actually give him to Frieza._

_**Q: **__Even if Frieza has never met Prince Vegeta before he should be aware of his approximate age. Kakarott is an infant, Prince Vegeta is most certainly not. So unless Frieza just doesn't care, he will find out soon enough and he will be ticked.  
__**A: **__You are correct; Frieza would have immediately noticed that he had given him the wrong Saiyan child, not to mention that we are sure that Frieza and Prince Vegeta have met at least once at this point. That's why it wasn't King Vegeta's plan- it would have never worked. No, that's why King Vegeta sacrificed his entire planet (and himself) to save his son from Frieza. He knew it would mean the death of himself and all the other Saiyans, but he didn't really care because he wholeheartedly believed that that one day Vegeta would avenge them all. Don't worry, though- it seems like everyone thought that was what King Vegeta was going to do. We are glad that no one was really able to see where we were going with King Vegeta's plan, and we hope you were pleasantly surprised by the events in this chapter!_

_**Q: **__I liked the decision to give Tora psychic powers, although I can tell from this that Bardock will be surviving in the future. This is probably how you're going to have Kakarot become powerful enough to be a threat to Earth.  
__**A: **__Well, as you've seen in this chapter, Bardock is clearly still around! As for Kakarot, you are right. He will definitely be getting stronger over time with all these Saiyans around, and in regards to Earth... well, you'll just have to wait and see!_

**_Q: _**_However there were times you repeated things in a sentence. Like . So that's how you think that will end. When you could have said so that's how you think it will end.  
__**A: **__We're not quite sure what you are trying to say. In this example, both statements are nearly identical. If THAT is the worst mistake we have made, we consider it a job well done!_

_**Q**__: during the namek saga vegeta stated that as a brat he had already surpassed his father so I don't see how king vegeta could easily put down vegeta. unless you weakened vegeta for plot convenience or he was just caught off guard.  
__**A: **__We believe that Vegeta was overestimating his own strength and underestimating his father's. It wouldn't be the first time he did that! In that context, by the way, we like to believe that Vegeta was talking about the fact that he surpassed his father's strength while he was still in his childhood/teenage years, not necessarily when he was four/five years old. That would mean that his power level was over ten thousand when he was five, and after twenty years of fighting for Frieza, he would have only improved by eight thousand. It's a little hard for us to believe that considering he improved by six thousand after his battle on Earth. It seems to be much more likely that Vegeta was exaggerating a bit in that quote, or referencing that fact that he surpassed him at a greater age than four/five years old._

_**Q: **__Will Goku then have a new role, or is he dead...?  
__**A: **__As you can see from this chapter, he is very much alive. As for his role, it is safe to say that it will change drastically from canon!_

**_Q: _**_I really hope you go all the way through Dragon Ball instead of just jumping to DBZ and also include some of Kakarott's adventures as Frieza's servant.  
__**A: **__It was our intention to go through Dragon Ball and even the time before those events so that we can cover Vegeta's development on Earth as well as the Saiyans' adventures in space__**.**_

_**Q**__: It makes me wonder who got away from the planet okay and if Bardock's team were still away.  
__**A: **__We believe the entirety of chapter two should be a great answer to your question!_

_**Q: **__Frieza! He is one of my favorite characters and I really enjoyed how excellently he was portrayed. I hope to see more scenes with the sinister tyrant in the future of this story.  
__**A: **__Oh, don't worry! You'll be seeing plenty of our favorite Arcosian in the future. He will remain integral throughout the story until his death. (if it ever happens!)_

_**Q:**__ if he's being sent to earth I wonder if he really would be treated like a god? Or would Kami just gather some Ki wielding fighter and put them in the chamber for a day?  
__**A: **__Well, it looks like you're just going to have to wait and see what happens in the upcoming chapters to get an answer to that!_


End file.
